UNION CITY, Ind. (WOWO) — The Union City Police Department is defending its decision to release a redacted interrogation video of a former high school secretary charged with child seduction, after the Randolph County Prosecutor’s Office called the move “unethical.”

Alicia Hughes, a former employee of Union City Community High School, faces five counts of child seduction. Each charge carries a potential penalty of up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Union City Director of Public Safety Mark Ater said the department acted within the law when it released the video and rejected criticism from the prosecutor’s office.

“No, the Prosecutor’s Office has a lot of unethical things, too,” Ater said. “I’ve been down this road. I don’t know if it’s a personal opinion that they have because they know I released it, but I’ve had some issues with their decision-making on multiple cases as far as child abuse.”

The video released by police was edited to remove victims’ names and identifying information, Ater said.

“It is redacted to remove the victims’ names and any identifying information about the victims. It’s not the raw footage,” he said. “At the end of the day, the information that was released — it was within the law. It was redacted. The kids’ information weren’t on there. It’s nothing more than what’s in the probable cause affidavit for the arrest. That’s 100% public record.”

Hughes was charged based on evidence gathered during the investigation so far, Ater said, but authorities are continuing to examine additional material.

“She’s got five counts of child seduction based on investigation that we’ve done thus far,” he said. “I will say, though, that the investigation’s continued. We have several electronic devices that search warrants are being executed on right now. We’ve got multiple electronic devices that were used during this unfortunate crime that she committed, so we’re still ironing through all that stuff.”

Ater said investigations involving digital evidence can take time, particularly when law enforcement must sort through electronic devices and social media accounts.

“Sometimes we get a little blowback that we don’t move quick enough,” he said. “But when we’re at the mercy of all these electronic devices and social media accounts that we have to sort through, it just takes time.”

Ater added that investigators plan to present any additional findings to prosecutors for possible further charges.

“I’m sure they’re not happy with the decisions that she made, and being in the position at the school, I’m sure they’re not excited about it,” he said. “But I think they understand that we’re working as diligently as we can to get things done

Her next court dates are April 16 for pre-trial motions, May 7 for a pre-trial conference, and June 15 for the jury trial.