My Husband Was Arrested for Child Pornography

My Husband Was Arrested for Child Pornography – What Happens Now

Your husband was just arrested. Federal agents took him away. They seized computers, phones, hard drives. And now you’re standing in your home wondering what happens next – not to him, but to you. To your children. To your life. Because his arrest doesn’t just affect him. It affects everyone connected to him. And nobody is going to warn you about what’s coming.

This article isn’t about defending your husband. He needs his own attorney for that. This article is about protecting yourself and your children in the aftermath of his arrest. Because the federal system doesn’t care that you’re innocent. It doesn’t care that you had no idea. It will sweep you up in the investigation, threaten your custody, freeze your assets, and pressure you to make decisions that could destroy your life – all while you’re still in shock from what just happened.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you real information about what happens when a spouse is arrested on federal child pornography charges – the legal implications for you, the risks you face, and the decisions you’ll need to make. Todd Spodek has represented families caught in federal investigations and understands that the spouse often needs protection just as much as the defendant. This article explains what you need to know.

The Day Everything Changed

Heres the paradox nobody prepares you for. Your husband was arrested, but YOUR life is falling apart. He’s the one facing charges, but your sitting in a house that just got searched. Your children are traumatized. Your community is about to find out. Your financial security just vanished. And the investigation isnt over – its just beginning to include you.

The consequence cascade starts immediately. Assets may be frozen under federal forfeiture laws. Your husband’s income disappears the moment he’s detained. The mortgage payment is due. The attorneys need retainers. The children need stability. And you have no idea wheather your going to have access to the bank accounts tomorrow.

If your husband is denied bail – and in child pornography cases, theres a presumption of detention – you become a single parent overnight. Except you dont have the legal status of a single parent. Your still married. Your still tied to him financially and legally. But he’s gone. And everything he was supposed to handle is now yours to figure out.

At Spodek Law Group, we help spouses understand that their needs are separate from the defendant’s needs. You may love your husband. You may want to support him. But your first obligation is to yourself and your children. The system dosent care about your marriage – and right now, neither can you.

Theres also the question of what you tell people. Your employer. Your children’s school. Your family. The arrest may be public – federal arrests often appear in court records that journalists monitor. You may wake up to find it in the news before youve even processed it yourself. And then everyone wants an explanation. Everyone has opinions. Everyone is watching how you react.

The impulse is to defend your husband. To explain that it must be a mistake. To tell people he would never do something like this. But you dont actually know what he did. You werent there. You havent seen the evidence. And defending him publicly before you know the facts can backfire – both legally and socially. The safest response is often no response. “We’re dealing with a difficult family situation and ask for privacy.” Thats it. Thats all anyone needs to know.

What Happens To You Now

Heres the system revelation that should concern every spouse. Federal agents may return to interview you. They’ll be friendly. They’ll act like they just need to clarify some details. They’ll suggest that talking to them will help your husband. And anything you say can and will be used against both of you.

You are not obligated to speak with federal agents. You have Fifth Amendment rights. You have the right to have an attorney present. You have the right to decline the interview entirely. And right now, declining may be the smartest thing you can do – becuase you dont know what your husband did, you dont know what the agents already know, and you dont know what your answers might implicate.

This is the trap that catches spouses. You want to help. You want to show your innocent. You want to explain that you had no idea. So you talk. And in talking, you mention that you used the family computer. You mention that you saw your husband acting strange. You mention something that makes the agents suspicious. Now your not just a spouse. Your a person of interest.

The uncomfortable truth is this: if you touched the devices that contained the illegal material, you may have forensic exposure even if you never saw a single file. Forensic analysis shows who accessed what and when. If your fingerprints are on the keyboard, if your login was used, if you opened folders that contained subfolders with illegal content – all of that shows up. And all of that requires explanation.

Todd Spodek advises every spouse in this situation to get their own attorney before speaking with anyone. Your husband’s attorney works for your husband. The federal agents work for the prosecution. Nobody in this process is looking out for you unless you hire someone who is.

Your Children In The Middle

Heres the hidden connection that devastates families. CPS involvement often follows federal child pornography arrests. Not becuase anyone thinks you abused your children. But becuase the investigation automatically triggers child welfare protocols. Your children may be interviewed. Your home may be inspected. Your fitness as a parent may be questioned – not becuase of anything you did, but becuase of what your husband allegedly did.

The questions will be invasive. Did your children have access to the devices? Did your children ever see anything inappropriate? Did your husband ever behave inappropriately with the children? These questions feel like accusations. They feel like violations. But they’re standard procedure. And how your children answer can affect custody.

Theres another layer that makes this worse. If your husband is released on bail, his conditions will almost certainly include no contact with minors. His own children are minors. This means he may not be able to live in the same house as them. He may not be able to attend their school events. He may not be able to be present for birthdays or holidays. The bail conditions that keep him out of jail may also keep him away from his family.

This creates an impossible situation. You want your husband home. But if he comes home, your children cant be there. Or you have to choose between your husband and your children living with you. The system forces these choices. The system dosent care that theyre devastating.

At Spodek Law Group, we help families navigate these conflicts. Sometimes the answer is that dad lives elsewhere during the pretrial period. Sometimes the answer is modified custody arrangements. Sometimes the answer is fighting the bail conditions. But the first step is understanding what the conditions actually mean.

Theres also the trauma your children are experiencing. They saw their father arrested. They saw agents searching their home. They may have had their own devices taken. They’re going to have questions you cant answer. They’re going to have feelings they cant process. And depending on their ages, they may be interviewed by law enforcement or child protective services about what they know.

How you handle this with your children matters. They need to know that theyre safe, that theyre not in trouble, and that what happens to their father isnt their fault. They dont need details. They dont need your speculation about what he did or didnt do. They need stability and reassurance that someone is taking care of them – and right now, that someone is you.

Consider getting your children into therapy with someone experienced in trauma. But be aware that therapists may be mandatory reporters. What your children say in therapy could potentially be shared with investigators if it relates to abuse. Discuss with your attorney what therapy options are safest.

The Financial Devastation

Heres another consequence that hits immediately. Federal forfeiture laws allow the government to seize assets connected to criminal activity. Computers and devices are obvious targets. But forfeiture can extend further – to bank accounts, to property, to anything that might have been used in connection with the offense.

Joint accounts are vulnerable. Property titled jointly is vulnerable. The family home, if a device used in the offense was located there, could theoretically be subject to forfeiture. The innocent owner defense exists – you can claim you had no knowledge of the criminal activity – but the burden is on YOU to prove that. You have to demonstrate that you didnt know, not that the government failed to prove you did.

The practical reality is that accounts may be frozen while forfeiture proceedings play out. You may not have access to funds you need for basic expenses. The government moves slowly. Your bills dont.

And theres the income issue. If your husband was the primary earner and he’s now detained, that income stops. If he loses his job – and he will lose his job if he’s convicted, and probly before – that income is gone permanently. You become the sole financial support for the family at the exact moment when legal fees are mounting and resources are disappearing.

Todd Spodek helps spouses protect what they can. Asset protection strategies need to be implemented early. Separate accounts may need to be established. The innocent owner defense may need to be asserted. None of this happens automatically. All of it requires action.

Theres a practical element here that most spouses overlook. You need to understand the family finances immediately. Many households operate with one spouse managing the money. If that was your husband, you may not know where accounts are, what bills are due, what investments exist. You need that information now – before accounts are frozen, before he’s convicted, before the divorce proceedings start.

Document everything. Pull account statements. Identify assets and debts. Understand what insurance exists. Know what retirement accounts look like. This isnt about hiding assets from the government. Its about understanding your financial reality so you can plan. And if your husband has been hiding financial information from you along with everything else, now is when you discover that to.

Do You Need Your Own Lawyer

Heres the irony that most spouses dont understand until its to late. You may need your own criminal defense attorney even though you did nothing wrong. Your husband’s attorney represents your husband. If your interests conflict with his – and they often do – his attorney cant represent you. If the prosecution decides to pressure you for testimony, you need someone in your corner.

The Texas case illustrates the danger. A wife discovered child pornography on her husband’s phone. She told her attorney about it and was told she had to report it to police or face potential charges. She gave a statement. She identified pictures. Later, another wife in a similar situation gave the phone BACK to her husband without reporting. She was charged with failure to report child abuse, tampering with evidence, and distribution of child pornography. For giving her husband his own phone.

The system treats spouses as potential defendants, potential witnesses, and potential obstructers of justice. You dont know which category you fall into until its to late. Having your own attorney means someone can navigate that for you.

Theres another reason you need separate counsel. Your husband may want you to do things that expose you legally. Hide evidence. Destroy devices. Lie to investigators. Transfer assets. Any of these actions could make you criminally liable. His attorney may not warn you becuase his attorney’s obligation is to him, not to you. Your attorney will tell you no.

At Spodek Law Group, we routinely represent spouses separately from defendants. The interests diverge. The strategies diverge. The person who protects you cant be the same person who protects him.

Spousal Privilege – What It Does And Doesn’t Cover

Heres the paradox that the legal system creates. Spousal privilege exists to protect marriages. It says that one spouse generally cant be forced to testify against the other. But in federal child pornography cases, the investigation may pressure you to testify anyway – and the privilege has significant exceptions.

The privilege belongs to the testifying spouse in federal court. That means YOU decide wheather to invoke it, not your husband. The government cant force you to testify against your spouse about confidential marital communications. But they can pressure you. They can threaten charges. They can suggest that cooperation will help your husband. The privilege is protection, but it isnt a shield against prosecutorial pressure.

And theres exceptions. Communications made in furtherance of a crime arent privileged. If your husband told you he was downloading material, that communication might not be protected. Observations you made – what you saw on a screen, what you found on a device – arent communications and arent privileged at all.

The practical reality is that privilege dosent prevent the government from calling you as a witness. It prevents them from compelling certain testimony. But the process itself – the subpoena, the grand jury appearance, the questions you have to decline to answer – is traumatic and complicated. And if you answer some questions but invoke privilege on others, that creates its own problems.

Todd Spodek helps spouses understand exactly what privilege covers and what it dosent. The rules are technical. The stakes are high. And mistakes – answering a question you should have declined, or refusing to answer a question you should have answered – can have serious consequences.

Theres another consideration that affects whether you invoke privilege. If you refuse to testify against your husband, the prosecution may view you as uncooperative. That could affect how they treat your innocent owner claims on assets. It could affect how aggressively they pursue any potential charges against you. It could affect the tone of the entire proceeding. Privilege is a right, but exercising it has consequences that extend beyond the courtroom.

Conversely, if you do testify, your testimony becomes part of the record. It can be used in the divorce. It can be used in custody proceedings. It can affect your relationship with your husband’s family. Everything you say under oath follows you. There is no taking it back.

Making Impossible Decisions

Heres the inversion that matters more then anything else. The question isnt “how do I support my husband.” The question is “how do I survive this regardless of what he did.”

You may have to choose between your marriage and your children’s custody. If your husband is convicted, family court will examine wheather continuing the marriage creates risk for your children. If you stand by him publicly, that may be used against you in custody proceedings. The criminal case affects the family case affects the criminal case. Everything is connected.

You may have to accept that you dont actually know what happened. Your husband may have hidden this from you for years. The person you thought you knew may not be the person he actually is. Processing that while simultaneously dealing with legal proceedings, financial collapse, and community judgment is overwhelming. But its the reality.

The community will judge you regardless of your innocence. Neighbors will whisper. Friends will distance themselves. Your children’s friends’ parents will have opinions. None of this is fair. All of it is real. And you have to figure out how to live in that community while protecting your family.

Call us at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free and completly confidential. If your husband has been arrested on federal child pornography charges, you need guidance that focuses on YOUR interests – your custody rights, your financial security, your legal exposure. His attorney will protect him. Who is protecting you?

The federal system treats families as collateral damage. Spouses lose homes, custody, community standing – all becuase of something their partner allegedly did. You cant control what your husband did. You cant control what the government does. But you can control how you respond. And the decisions you make in the next few weeks will shape the rest of your life.

Dont navigate this alone. Dont assume his attorney will look out for you. Dont talk to federal agents without your own counsel. And dont wait until the damage is done to start protecting yourself. At Spodek Law Group, we understand that the spouse’s case is separate from the defendant’s case. We protect spouses. We protect children. We help families survive what may be the worst chapter of their lives.