The former Tyngsboro childcare worker accused of taking nude photographs of the children under her care and then sharing those images with others heard firsthand the pain she had allegedly caused when a parent lashed out at at her in court.
“I want to (expletive) kill that (expletive),” a tearful woman, presumably a mother of one of the victims, cried at the close of the initial appearance in federal court in Boston. “You need to rot in jail!”
Lindsay Groves, 38, of Hudson, N.H., was charged by criminal complaint filed in federal court in Boston last week and arrested that same day. She is charged with sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography. According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, she took nude photos of children she worked with at the Creative Minds daycare in Tyngsboro, with at least several of the photos being made within the last couple of weeks.
If convicted, Groves faces a maximum of 30 years for the exploitation charge and a maximum of 20 years for the distribution charge, with mandatory minimums of 15 years and five years, respectively, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Soto, who is prosecuting the case with AUSA Anne Paruti.
Groves appeared in the courtroom wearing an orange Hillsboro County, N.H., jail scrub. Her only statement was “No, I don’t think I can afford it,” when Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell asked if she could afford her own attorney.
Cabell agreed, saying that his review of her financial affidavit showed she qualified for court-appointed representation. Attorney Jessica Thrall, of the Boston federal public defender’s office, appeared with Groves for the hearing and was appointed as her attorney.
The tearful woman had to be restrained by what appeared to be friends and family while in the courtroom and was told to leave when she began banging on the rail that separated the audience area. She chose not to speak with reporters outside the courthouse.
Cabell remanded Groves back to custody of New Hampshire law enforcement. She is due next in court in Massachusetts July 13.
This is a developing story.