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Sanford woman who accused husband of child abuse faces child porn charges

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who reported her husband for alleged child abuse and child pornography charges last week is now also behind bars facing charges of receiving child porn, according to an arrest affidavit.

A tip from Sanford resident Sarah Ritchie led to the arrests of both her husband, Justin Ritchie, and her husband’s former mistress, Audra Mabel, earlier this month. Mabel was a kindergarten teacher at Spring Lake Elementary School in Altamonte Springs until her arrest.

Federal prosecutors allege the Ritchies exchanged multiple texts between June 18 and 19 of last year that contained child pornography.

READ: Seminole County elementary school teacher accused of creating, distributing child porn, affidavit says

According to the criminal complaint, the first text, which contained a web story about an adult male having sex with a 10-year-old girl he was babysitting -- was sent by Justin Ritchie to Sarah Ritchie.

In texts that followed, Justin Ritchie asked his wife if he could send her more pictures, which investigators say contained child pornography. They said Sarah Ritchie responded "sure" with a smiley face emoji.

According to the complaint, prior to sending the images, Justin Ritchie asked his wife if what he was doing bothered her.  She responded “nope,” along with another smiley face emoji.

The complaint says additional messages followed.

Now Sarah Ritchie is behind bars in the Orange County Jail, while Justin Ritchie and Mabel remain in custody at the Seminole County Jail.

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