A Byron Center attorney who secretly filmed a child getting undressed has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Michael Siwek, who practiced law in the Grand Rapids-area community, pleaded guilty earlier this year to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, and a judge in Kalamazoo handed down concurrent 20-year terms plus five years of supervised release.
The sentence, handed down Wednesday, Oct. 28, was first detailed by WOODTV, which reported that Siwek, 50, entered his guilty plea in February. U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney also ordered Siwek to pay $174,500 in restitution, according to the station's report. Siwek had been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 2002, and his license had already been suspended once before, in December 2012, after a drunken-driving conviction — reinstated in July 2013, per the same account.
How the Case Came Together
The case against Siwek began with a tip. A witness reported in December 2024 that Siwek had videos of a nude child on his cellphone, according to a criminal complaint cited by MLive. Kent County prosecutors initially filed state charges before the case was transferred to federal court, where Christopher Goehring, a sheriff's detective assigned to an FBI task force, was involved in the investigation, per the outlet.
According to a sentencing memorandum cited by MLive, Siwek secretly recorded an undressed child and also possessed unrelated child pornography on his cellphone and computer. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Rugg said Siwek had about 8,000 images of child pornography on his electronic devices, the outlet reported. Siwek himself admitted to setting up a camera and taking a short video of the child getting dressed, saying he tried to delete the footage afterward but apparently did not delete it entirely. He described the act as “very, very stupid,” according to MLive's reporting.
Prosecutor: No Remorse Shown
Rugg wrote that Siwek expressed no remorse and instead tried to justify and normalize his actions, per MLive's account of the sentencing memorandum. Siwek had also sought to withdraw his guilty pleas, citing the size of the restitution order, but Judge Maloney rejected that request at a separate hearing Monday, according to the outlet.
Siwek's Michigan law license was automatically suspended effective February 24, 2026, following his conviction by guilty plea, according to a disciplinary order published in the Michigan Bar Journal. The order does not address the underlying facts of the case beyond noting the automatic suspension tied to his conviction.
Broader Federal Sentencing Context
Federal sentencing in child pornography production cases has drawn scrutiny from policymakers for years. A 2021 report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission examined offenders' proximity to victims, their participation in producing the material, and their propensity to engage in other abusive behavior — factors that inform how courts approach sentencing in these cases nationally.
