An actress whose husband pleaded guilty to child pornography charges has revealed why she stood by him and what inspired her to write a one-woman show about the ordeal.

Maddie Corman, 49, of Harlem, New York, explained how after rehab, couples therapy and much agonizing over ethics and forgiveness, she still remains with her husband Jace Alexander, best known for his work as a director on Law & Order.

In 2016, Alexander, 54, pleaded guilty to two felony counts related to possessing and sharing illegal and obscene performances of sexual conduct by a child under 17.

The director was sentenced to ten years probation and had to register as a sex offender.

Ms Corman said she stayed with her husband because she did not want her children to grow up without a parent.

She told the Times of London: 'I had no interest in having my kids grow up without a parent as long as he was willing to get help and be the best person he could.

Maddie Corman, 49, of Harlem, New York, remains married to Jace Alexander (pictured together right in 2014) despite his felony child porn arrest

Maddie Corman (left), Jace Alexander (center) and Tom Gilroy (right) attend The Nantucket Film Festival in 2013

'And, again, I'm aware that decision does not sit well with some people. I wish I could tell you that that doesn't upset me, but it does. I don't like having to defend that choice. And I don't love having my kids potentially read that.

'That's really, really painful for me and really not something I ever anticipated. I was proud to be married to who I'm married to. And I'm still proud to be married to him. I am.'

Ms Corman said she never worried about Alexander hurting any of their three children and that she wanted to tell her tough story of staying with her husband.

She created a one-woman play about her ordeal - revealing the couple are still married nearly four years later.

Ms Corman, the star and writer of Accidentally Brave, which opened last month at the DR2 Theater in the city, discovered Alexander's sordid crimes after the father of her three children was arrested three and a half years ago.

She told the Times: 'I did not personally worry that he would or had ever hurt the children. I know that some people think that I am crazy or a monster and that's not been fun to read.

Maddie Corman's play Accidentally Brave opened last month at the DR2 Theater in New York. Her one-woman show charts her ordeal at discovering her husband (right in his mug shot) admitted child porn charges in 2016. She is pictured (right) at the opening night with actress Debra Messing

Ms Corman and her husband Jason, whose mother is the actress Jane Alexander (pictured together), had to sell their family home

Paul Rudd (left), Celia Weston (center), and Jace Alexander (right) at the opening night of the Nantucket Film Festival in Massachusetts

'I have zero desire to hear about [his] guilt and shame. I think in some ways it would be easier to do a show where I come out and say, ''I got rid of the bum and here I am'', but that's not my story. My husband was never going to stop being the father of my three kids.'

But speaking to The New York Times in an earlier interview, Ms Corman expressed her fears that by staying with her husband she is undermining the #MeToo movement, having been one of nine women who last year spoke out against the playwright Israel Horovitz.

According to a police report at the time, Alexander published a short film on the file-sharing site Torrent showing a 12-year-old girl performing sex acts in June 2016.

Another video found on his computer showed a six-year-old girl masturbating.

She recalled how at first she thought there had been a terrible mistake: '[This was a man who] listens to NPR and makes bad jokes and sings songs at the piano and reads The New Yorker and plans for the future and who doesn't flirt with my friends.'

However, when her husband of 21-years confirmed it was true, she picked him up in Brooklyn following his release on bail and claims to have punched him.

In 2016, Alexander pleaded guilty to two felony counts related to possessing and sharing illegal and obscene performances of sexual conduct by a child under 17. The director was sentenced to ten years probation and had to register as a sex offender

In the play she references why Alexander downloaded such images when she describes, 'things that had happened to him long before I met him', and deep buried 'shame and abuse'.

During the saga, Ms Corman started writing down her experience, and her friend Kristin Hanggi - who directs Accidentally Brave - encouraged her to turn it into a play.

Describing the grief of the revelations, Ms Corman told the Times: 'It's almost like that fear that it might be contagious.'

And while the actress admitted she fears what people will say and whether it could hurt her children even more, Ms Corman told the publication that she often reminds herself that doing the performance won't be as scary as 'living it was'.

The actress, who revealed she still suffers flashbacks, added: 'I wouldn't wish what happened to me or my kids on anyone.

'But the way that I feel, and honestly the way that my husband feels, is that when we keep things in the dark, that's when shame and pain actually grows.'

Ms Corman and her husband, whose mother is the actress Jane Alexander, had to sell their family home in Dobbs Ferry, New York, as 'everyone knew' in the 'small town', while their children switched schools.

Her husband is currently producing a documentary - working title Tsunami - about pornography and how destructive it can be.