TYNGSBORO, Mass. — The family of an alleged child sexual abuse victim who attended a Tyngsboro daycare has filed a civil lawsuit against the daycare.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Middlesex Superior Court by Quincy attorneys Robert Norton and Roger Donahue on behalf of the family of a boy who claimed sexual abuse by a kindergarten teacher at Creative Minds Early Learning Center at 164 Westford Ave. in Tyngsboro.
The lawsuit alleges that Creative Minds “did nothing to protect the children” of Lindsay Groves, a daycare teacher accused of taking sexually explicit photographs of children there.
Groves is accused of sharing the sexually explicit photographs of the children with former New Hampshire state Rep. Stacie Laughton, the state’s first openly transgender lawmaker, who is also charged in the case.
Groves, 38, allegedly took nude cellphone pictures of children between the ages of 3 and 5 in the daycare bathroom between May 2022 and June 2023, then texted the photos to Laughton , according to the US Attorney’s office.
Authorities allege that Laughton had been requesting and receiving sexually explicit photos from Groves of both boys and girls.
Prosecutors previously said a review of Grove’s cell phone allegedly revealed more than 2,500 text messages between Groves and Laughton.
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According to the lawsuit, as early as 2018, a parent of a child in the care of the facility told the owner and director of Creative Minds that Groves “was inappropriately touching the children in his care.”
“Despite being told this information, Creative Minds did nothing to protect Lindsay Groves’ children,” the lawsuit states. “Creative Minds did nothing to remove Lindsay Groves or prevent her from having access to the children in her care.”
In 2022, the owner and manager were again told that Groves was “acting inappropriately by taking illicit photographs of the children,” the lawsuit states.
“Again, despite receiving this information, Creative Minds took no action to remove or prevent Lindsay Groves from having access to the children and, in fact, continued to allow her to be alone with the children,” the lawsuit states.
The boy’s mother enrolled her son in the daycare program in October 2022, and the family claims the boy was “repeatedly sexually assaulted and abused” by Groves at the facility while in his care, according to the demand
The lawsuit, which seeks more than $50,000 in damages, claims the boy “continues to suffer severe physical and emotional injuries, including but not limited to incontinence and expressions and displays of anger, sadness, depression and feelings of guilt.” . court documents show.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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