CONCORD, NH – Stacey Lancaster, the former Manchester West High School teacher accused of arranging a sexual encounter with a minor during school hours, is asking a court to allow him to use a laptop to access the internet to continue taking courses to obtain his master’s degree.
Lancaster, 46, of Hudson, filed the motion dated Dec. 8, 2024 in U.S. District Court. He wants the court to order U.S. Probation to install monitoring software on his computer. He also asked the court to allow him to leave his residence once a week to attend classes at Northeastern University in Boston.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Vicinanzo objected saying the proposed modifications to Lancaster’s bail conditions would give him the technical ability to access any website on the internet. And, he said, the software may not alert U.S. Probation of all proper uses of the internet.
“This is of particular concern for the defendant who, based on the timing of his chats with the uncover agent, appears to have been negotiating online for commercial sex with a minor while he was at work at the high school where he was employed,” Vicinanzo wrote.
The prosecutor also said the modification would shift the burden to U.S. Probation to ensure Lancaster “is at all times compliant with the modified conditions of release in his use of a laptop and the limitations on his access to the internet.”
Vicinanzo also objected to Lancaster being allowed to travel to Boston for the weekly class. He said Lancaster is currently subject to Radio Frequency (RF) location monitoring. It allows probation to see when he is at home and when he isn’t. However, it does not identify his precise location when he is away from home.
“This is of particular concern to the government in this case, where it appears—based on the defendant’s work and graduate program class schedule—that he was traveling between his work and his Thursday evening class at Northeastern when he stopped over to commit his crime at the hotel and was arrested,” Vicinanzo wrote.
Defense Attorney Charles J. Keefe, in his motion, said the two classes at Northeastern University in Boston began on Oct. 28, 2024 and end on Dec. 13, 2024. There are only two remaining classes for the semester.
When he was arrested, he was pursuing his master’s degree in human resource management. The two classes are strategic workforce planning, an online course, and developing strategic and authentic leadership communication (ALC). ALC is a hybrid course, which requires external research and includes a once-a-week in-person meeting on Thursday evenings. To attend that class, Lancaster would have to leave his home by 4 p.m. and would return by 9:45 p.m. Keefe said there are only two remaining classes for the semester.
Keefe noted that Lancaster is an honorably-discharged 24-year-veteran of the U.S. Navy with no criminal record whatever.
Lancaster was released on home confinement. Bail conditions require him to live with his mother in Raymond; have no unsupervised contact with any minor children; not possess or use any computer or device with internet access. The only communication device he can have is a safe phone provided by the monitoring software company through the U.S. Probation Office.
Lancaster is one of five men – the other four from Massachusetts — facing charges in connection with an underage sex sting operation conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
There was no underage girl at the hotel when Lancaster arrived on the afternoon of Nov. 14, 2024, but there were law enforcement officers waiting to arrest him.
According to court documents, Lancaster allegedly responded to an online ad for sex and had a text chat with the advertiser while he was at school.
Lori Robinson, Special Agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), wrote in her affidavit that on Nov. 14, 2024, law enforcement agents posted an advertisement on a website commonly used to advertise commercial sex acts.
It contained images of what appeared to be two young girls and said:
“Sweet & tight! Ready 2 have some fun!” “In town 4 a limited time only” “Cute & very petite girl that is tight from head to toe! Cum over to play with me!” “Text for donations. In call only – safe and discrete location.”
The ad contained a contact phone number monitored by law enforcement and used by an undercover agent to communicate with potential sex buyers, including Lancaster.
On the same day the ad was posted, a text message was received from a phone number ending in 7403. Thereafter, a text conversation began between the undercover agent and the caller, identified by officers as Lancaster. The undercover agent said they had two minor girls—ages 12 and 14 years old—available to perform sex acts in exchange for money. Lancaster agreed to pay $100 to have sex with the 12 year-old girl, according to Robinson’s affidavit.
The law enforcement agents, according to Robinson’s affidavit, used a website that is known for containing prostitution advertisements but requires users to be at least 18 years old. Robinson wrote that this website and others like it have been used by traffickers to advertise the commercial sex acts of children under the age of 18.