Manchester teacher accused of sex trafficking certified by ROTC, not state

The ROTC teacher at Manchester West High School in charge of An attempted sex trafficking of a minor Thursday was not required to have state training credentials, an ROTC spokesperson said Tuesday. Instead, 46-year-old Stacey Ray Lancaster of Hudson was certified to work at the school through the Naval Junior ROTC program.

Lt. Commander Mack Jamieson, spokesman for the Naval Junior ROTC, said Lancaster would only have needed a state diploma if the Manchester school district had hired him to teach other subjects. Lancaster, who retired from the Navy with an honorable discharge in August 2023, received his NJROTC certification in March 2023, Jamieson said.

Jamieson said Lancaster’s military certification process did not include criminal background checks because school districts are required to conduct them. Jamieson said the policy changed in November 2023 and now all NJROTC instructors undergo background checks as an “extra measure” of protection.

The Manchester School District said in an email Tuesday that it has conducted a criminal background check on Lancaster, as required by state law.

The NJROTC suspended Lancaster’s certification following his arrest during a federal sex trafficking case at a Manchester hotel. Four other men were also arrested. The school district has placed him on administrative leave and is offering counseling to students.

No actual children were involved in the sting.

In a filing Monday, federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Lancaster was at school when he arranged with an undercover detective to have sex with a 12-year-old girl at the hotel.

The Ministry of Education did not respond to a message asking whether other types of teachers can work in schools without a state diploma. A bill that would have allowed districts to hire part-time teachers without degrees failed last year.

Manchester West High School has hosted the NJROTC program since 1971. There are several other school-based ROTC programs in the state, including at high schools in Dover, Windham, Hampton and Rochester, and at the University of New Hampshire and Southern New Hampshire University. .