If law enforcement contacted you about Child Sexually Abusive Material (CSAM), you are already behind the investigation.
By the time a detective calls, the case file is often months old. Investigators may have search warrants, forensic reports, subscriber records, chat logs, or information from technology companies before you ever know you are being investigated.
At Blank Law, PC, we are former prosecutors who spent our careers investigating and prosecuting sex crimes before dedicating our practice exclusively to defending people accused of them. We were the Chiefs of two different counties’ sexual assault units. Our Livonia CSAM defense lawyers know how these investigations are built because we spent decades building them ourselves.
Call Blank Law, PC at (248) 515-6583 for a free, confidential consultation.
Most felony cases that begin in Livonia do not stay in Livonia.
The case starts in the 16th District Court on Five Mile Road. Initial proceedings typically include arraignment, a probable cause conference, and a preliminary examination.
If the prosecution establishes probable cause, the case is bound over to the Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit. At that point, everything changes. New court. New judge. New prosecutors. Different strategy.
That transition matters.
Both Nicole Blank Becker and Christopher Coyle were former Wayne County prosecutors. Christopher spent 28 years inside the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and rose to become Deputy Chief of the Special Victims Unit. He reviewed and supervised the very types of cases now brought against our clients.
When we evaluate a Livonia CSAM case, we do so with the benefit of knowing how prosecutors view the evidence, where they see weaknesses, and what factors drive charging decisions.
That perspective is not theoretical. It is experience.
Most investigations originate in one of four ways.
1. A Technology Company Reports an Account
Google. Dropbox. Snapchat. Microsoft. Apple. TikTok. YouTube.
When a provider believes CSAM may be associated with an account, it can generate a report and send it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). That report is then forwarded to the agency with jurisdiction over the matter. This may be Wayne County, Michigan State Police computer crimes investigators, the Livonia Police Department Detective Bureau, or the Sheriff.
The report may contain an email address, username, IP address, payment information, or subscriber records. What it does not automatically prove is who actually accessed the account. That distinction often becomes one of the most important issues in the case.
2. Investigators Identify Activity on a File-Sharing Network
Law enforcement agencies monitor peer-to-peer networks and identify IP addresses associated with suspected files. They run programs that scan BitTorrent for known files and log them.
Investigators then subpoena the internet provider to identify who paid for the account linked to the IP address. That information frequently leads to a search warrant. But subscriber information is not the same thing as proof. An internet account may be used by multiple family members, roommates, visitors, or anyone with access to the network. Determining who actually used a device is often far more complicated than prosecutors would like a jury to believe.
3. Someone With Access to the Home Reports a Concern
A report from someone inside the household often triggers an investigation, but it doesn’t answer the questions that matter most: Who used the device? Who controlled the account? Who actually possessed the material?
4. Undercover Investigations
State and federal agencies routinely operate undercover online accounts. They run fake profiles on chat apps, dating apps, and forums. These investigations can involve chat applications, messaging platforms, forums, gaming platforms, and social media. By the time investigators make contact, they often possess screenshots, transcripts, downloaded content, and months of recorded communications.
These are also the cases most likely to draw federal attention.
Michigan calls these offenses Child Sexually Abusive Material, or CSAM. Most people focus on the file.
We focus on the proof.
Finding a file on a device isn’t the same as proving a crime. The prosecutor still has to prove you knowingly possessed it, accessed it, searched for it, or distributed it.
That word matters.
Knowingly.
Jurors are often led to believe that a file found on a computer automatically belongs to the person who owns the computer. Real life is not that simple.
The central question in many CSAM cases is not whether a file existed. The question is whether the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt who put it there, who accessed it, and what that person actually knew.
That is where many defenses begin.
The Three Types of CSAM Charges
Michigan generally prosecutes CSAM offenses as possession, distribution, or production.
Possession: Possession charges typically carry a maximum penalty of four years in prison, but penalties can go up to ten years.
A 4-year maximum can increase dramatically with cases involving video files, prepubescent children, large file counts, or certain aggravating circumstances, like when the material is video, shows a prepubescent child, exceeds 100 images, or involves sadomasochistic content or bestiality.
Up to 4 years, rising to 10 years
Distribution: Distribution charges are significantly more serious. A conviction can carry up to 7 years in prison, with potential penalties of up to 15 years when aggravating factors are present. The aggravating factors include those listed under “Possession”.
One of the most contested issues in these cases is whether a person intentionally distributed anything. Prosecutors and defense lawyers often view the same digital evidence very differently.
Production: Production is the most serious category. Many people assume production means personally creating images or videos. The law is far broader than that. Depending on the facts alleged, production can include creating, copying, arranging, directing, soliciting, or paying for prohibited material.
These cases can expose a person to decades in prison, anywhere from 20 to 25 years.
The Sex Offender Registry
For many people, the registry becomes just as frightening as the possibility of incarceration.
A conviction for possession generally results in Tier I registration, which means 15 years on the Sex Offender Registry.
Distribution and production offenses typically result in higher registration tiers and significantly longer registration periods. Tier II: 25 years.
Decisions made during the investigation often determine the outcome long before anyone steps into a courtroom. A conviction for production generally results in Tier III registration, which means Life on the Sex Offender Registry.
State and Federal Prosecution
Not every Livonia CSAM case stays in state court.
Some do. Some do not.
One of the most important questions at the start of an investigation is who will ultimately prosecute. Most Livonia cases start with local or state investigators and are reviewed by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
Others attract federal attention.
Cases involving allegations of distribution, large file counts, interstate activity, cloud storage accounts, undercover operations, or multiple jurisdictions are more likely to be considered for federal prosecution.
That distinction matters. The penalties are different. Federal penalties are much worse. The sentencing guidelines are different. The prosecutors are different. The courts are different. And the strategy must be different.
Many people assume prosecutors have already made a charging decision by the time they learn they are under investigation. That is often wrong. In many cases, the investigation still hasn’t determined whether state or federal charges will be brought. That window matters. It is often the single most important stage of the case.
At Blank Law, PC, we defend clients in both state and federal court. We are admitted in the Eastern District of Michigan and regularly handle cases in both systems. We understand how prosecutors evaluate these cases because we spent years doing exactly that. When we get involved early, we immediately assess the evidence, identify weaknesses, protect our client’s rights, and position the case for the best possible outcome before formal charges are filed.
Because once charges are issued, your options become far more limited.
The best defense strategy is often built long before anyone walks into a courtroom.
The phone rings.
The caller says he is a detective.
Maybe it is Livonia Police.
Maybe the Michigan State Police.
Maybe the FBI.
Maybe Homeland Security Investigations.
The script is almost always the same.
“We just want to ask you a few questions.”
“We want to hear your side of the story.”
“This is your opportunity to explain what happened.”
“Things will go better if you cooperate.”
Do not fall for it.
Investigators do not call people they are not interested in.
If they are contacting you, there is a reason.
And whatever that reason is, you are not going to talk your way out of it.
We hear the same thing from clients every week:
“I thought if I explained everything, they would understand.”
They won’t.
The purpose of the interview is not to clear you.
The purpose of the interview is to gather evidence.
In many cases, the most damaging evidence comes directly from the person under investigation.
So let us be absolutely clear.
Do not go to the station.
Do not agree to an interview.
Do not answer questions.
Do not explain.
Do not try to convince them they have the wrong person.
Call a lawyer.
Immediately.
If an investigator contacts you, or they execute a search warrant on your home, and then want to talk to you, there is only one thing you should say:
“I want to speak with my attorney before answering any questions. Please contact Blank Law, PC at (248) 515-6583.”
Then stop talking.
What If They Want to Search?
If an officer asks for permission to search your home, vehicle, phone, computer, or online accounts, they are asking for your consent.
You can say no. Politely. Respectfully. Firmly.
If they had a warrant, they would not need your permission.
Do not let fear decide for you. Do not let pressure decide for you. And do not believe that consenting will make the case go away. It won’t.
If investigators arrive with a search warrant, do not interfere. Read the warrant. Stay calm. Stay out of the way.
But do not help build the case against yourself. Do not volunteer information. Do not answer questions. Do not explain where files came from. Do not identify devices. Do not provide passwords. Do not unlock phones. Do not consent to anything beyond the scope of the warrant.
Then call us.
One More Thing: Do Not Delete Anything
People panic. That is normal. What is not helpful is trying to erase the problem.
Forensic examiners recover data every day. What clients believe is gone is often still there. And efforts to destroy evidence can create new problems that are entirely separate from the original investigation. The best thing you can do is nothing. Leave everything exactly as it is. Pick up the phone.
Call us.
The decisions people make in the first twenty-four hours of an investigation often determine what happens months later.
Make the right one.
When people learn they are being investigated for a CSAM offense, panic takes over. That is understandable. What isn’t understandable is making decisions that hand investigators evidence they didn’t have before. We see the same mistakes over and over again. Some of them lead to charges being filed. Some of them make charges worse. Some of them permanently damage the defense.
1. Trying to Explain It Away
People think they can clear up a misunderstanding. They cannot. By the time investigators contact you, they are not looking for an explanation. They are looking for evidence. Every answer creates another question. They can use every statement against you later. Do not try to talk your way out of it. You won’t.
2. Talking to Employers, Licensing Boards, or Anyone Else
Fear makes people feel like they need to get ahead of the story.
So they start explaining.
That is usually a mistake. You cannot take those statements back.
Before making a single disclosure, you need to understand what you face criminally and what collateral consequences may follow.
You need a strategy. Not a panic response.
3. Deleting Files or Devices
This is one of the worst mistakes people make. People delete files. Factory reset computers. Replace phones. Destroy hard drives. Ask someone else to do it for them. Forensic examiners deal with this every day. What people think is gone often is not. And efforts to destroy evidence can create an entirely new set of problems.
The investigation is already happening.
Do not make it worse. Leave everything exactly where it is.
4. Hiring the Wrong Lawyer
Not every criminal defense lawyer handles CSAM cases.
And not every lawyer who says they handle sex crimes actually understands them.
These cases involve digital forensics.
You need a lawyer who handles these cases regularly.
Your freedom is too important to trust to someone learning on your case.
5. Waiting to See What Happens
This mistake causes the most damage.
Many people assume nothing is happening because they have not been charged.
That is often exactly when the most important decisions are being made.
And every day that passes is a day you could have had a lawyer protecting your interests.
The best opportunity to influence a case’s outcome is often before charges are filed. Once formal charges are issued, many of your options become significantly more limited. Do not wait. If you believe you are under investigation, act immediately. The earlier we become involved, the more we can do to protect you.
Most people think the case begins when the police knock on the door.
It doesn’t.
By then, the investigation is usually well underway.
The Investigation
In many cases, investigators execute a search warrant and leave with phones, computers, hard drives, tablets, gaming systems, or cloud account information.
They then send those devices for forensic examination. That process can take months. People often tell us they are not worried because they deleted everything. That is not a strategy. Forensic examiners recover deleted information every day. Just because something isn’t visible anymore doesn’t mean it is gone. But finding a file is only part of the equation. The real question is who put it there. Who accessed it? Who controlled the device? Who actually knew it existed. Those questions are often far more complicated than prosecutors would like a jury to believe. That is why we do not simply accept a forensic report at face value. We examine what it actually proves. And just as importantly, what it does not.
The Charging Decision
Eventually, the case lands on a prosecutor’s desk. That prosecutor decides what happens next. Sometimes charges are authorized. Sometimes they are not. Sometimes the issue is not whether charges will be brought, but where.
State court. Federal court. Or both.
Many people assume that once police execute a search warrant, charges are inevitable. That is not always true. The period between the investigation and the charging decision is often one of the most important stages of the entire case. Because once charges are filed, your options become significantly more limited. That is why getting involved early matters. It gives us the opportunity to begin protecting you before decisions are finalized.
The Court Process
If charges are filed in state court, the case typically begins in the 16th District Court in Livonia. The first stages include arraignment, a probable cause conference, and a preliminary examination. If the prosecution establishes probable cause, the case is transferred to the Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit.
That transfer is not a formality. The court changes. The judge changes. The prosecutors change. The strategy often changes. Every stage requires preparation. Every stage presents opportunities. And every stage creates risks if you don’t handle the case correctly.
Bond Conditions
Many people focus exclusively on the criminal charge. They often don’t expect the restrictions that come with bond.
In some cases, those conditions can affect nearly every aspect of daily life. The good news is that bond conditions are not automatic.
A judge has to hear both sides before deciding what is appropriate.
Pretrial Litigation and Resolution
This is where cases are won. Not on television. Not through dramatic courtroom speeches. Through preparation. Through investigation. By understanding the evidence better than the prosecution. We analyze forensic reports. We challenge search warrants. We scrutinize the timeline. We identify other users of devices and accounts. We litigate constitutional issues. We look for weaknesses. Because every weakness matters. Some cases end in dismissal. Some end in reduced charges. Some end through negotiated resolutions. Some go to trial. But a single moment rarely determines the outcome. It usually results from hundreds of decisions made throughout the case. That is why experience matters.
“Everything I Read Online Says My Case Goes to Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.” Not anymore. A surprising number of law firm websites are years behind. Wayne County criminal cases moved to the Criminal Justice Center in Detroit. Unfortunately, the internet is full of outdated information. That is one reason people get into trouble trying to research these cases on their own. The internet can tell you where a case might go. It cannot tell you what is going to happen in your case. Every investigation is different. Every prosecutor is different. Every set of facts is different. That is why general information only takes you so far. Sooner or later, you need advice that is specific to your situation.
I Haven’t Been Charged Yet. Should I Be Worried? Yes. Many people assume no news is good news. It isn’t. Some of the most important decisions in a CSAM investigation happen before prosecutors ever file charges. Search warrants are being reviewed. Computers are being examined. Reports are being written. Prosecutors are deciding what charges, if any, they will authorize. Whether a case lands in state court or federal court may still be undecided. By the time formal charges are filed, months of work have often already been completed. Do not confuse silence with inactivity. Investigations often move forward long before you hear anything.
Can I Talk to My Employer About What’s Happening? Not until you understand the consequences. People panic. They want to get ahead of the story. They think honesty will protect them. Sometimes it does exactly the opposite.
Law enforcement officers. Anyone holding a professional license. Many people face collateral consequences long before a criminal case is resolved. Before you speak with an employer, licensing board, human resources department, administrator, or supervisor, you need a plan. Once you make those statements, you don’t get them back.
What If The Files Weren’t Mine? That may be one of the most important issues in the case. Prosecutors often focus on where they found a file. We focus on who actually used the device. Those are not always the same thing. Devices are shared. Accounts are shared. Internet connections are shared. Cloud storage is shared. Families share computers. Roommates share networks. Multiple people often have access to the same device. The existence of a file does not automatically answer the question of who knowingly possessed it or who knowingly accessed it. In many cases, that question becomes the entire defense.
Is There Anything I Can Do Right Now to Help Myself? Yes. Stop talking. Do not speak with investigators. Do not answer questions. Do not delete anything. Do not post on social media. Do not discuss the investigation with coworkers. Do not try to explain your way out of it. And do not sit around waiting to see what happens. Call a lawyer. The earlier we become involved, the more opportunities we have to protect you. The worst time to start building a defense is after prosecutors have already made every important decision.
There are a lot of criminal defense lawyers. There are very few lawyers who spent decades prosecuting sex crimes before dedicating their practice to defending people accused of them. That difference matters. Nicole Blank Becker spent seventeen years as a Michigan prosecutor in both Wayne and Macomb County. She served as Chief of the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit in Macomb County. Every warrant request crossed her desk. Every investigation was reviewed. Every charging decision required proof. And the reality was eye-opening.
Far too many cases should never have moved forward. Far too many assumptions were treated as facts. Far too many people faced life-changing allegations based on investigations that deserved far more scrutiny than they got. Christopher Coyle spent twenty-eight years in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. He retired as Deputy Chief of the Special Victims Unit. He supervised and reviewed the same types of cases our clients face today.
We know how prosecutors build these cases. We know what they look for. We know what persuades them. And we know where they make mistakes. You can’t learn that knowledge from a seminar. You can’t learn it from a textbook. It comes from years spent inside the system.
Today, our practice is devoted exclusively to defending people accused of sex crimes. Nothing else. We do not dabble in sex crimes. We do not handle them occasionally. We do not accept every type of criminal case that comes through the door. This is what we do. Every day. The stakes in these cases are too high for anything less. A CSAM allegation can threaten your freedom.
You need a lawyer who understands digital forensics. Search warrants. Cloud storage records. State sentencing guidelines. The Sex Offender Registry. And most importantly, how to challenge the government’s evidence. Our office is local. People come to us from Livonia and throughout Michigan because these cases require more than a general criminal defense lawyer. They require experience. They require strategy. They require someone who understands exactly how the government built the case.
When you hire Blank Law, PC, you won’t deal with investigators. You are not dealing with prosecutors. You are not dealing with the court. We are here for you. We become the point of contact. We protect your rights. We protect your future. And we start working immediately.
If you are being investigated for a CSAM offense in Livonia, do not wait to see what happens; contact us right away. Do not assume the police have the wrong person. Do not assume prosecutors will eventually figure it out. Do not assume your case is going away. By the time most people call us, the investigation has already been underway for months. Evidence has been gathered. Accounts have been traced. Search warrants have been executed. Charging decisions may already be under discussion.
The earlier we become involved, the more we can do. At Blank Law, PC, we intervene early. We deal with investigators. We deal with prosecutors. We protect our clients from making mistakes they cannot undo. And we begin building the defense immediately. These cases are different. The consequences are different. The evidence is different. The lawyers handling them should be different too.
If you, your spouse, your child, your sibling, or someone you care about has been contacted by law enforcement regarding a CSAM investigation in Livonia or anywhere in Wayne County, call us before speaking with anyone else.
Blank Law, PC
(248) 515-6583
Free Consultation. Confidential.
Available 24 Hours a Day.
We are here to help. That is all we do.
Every case is different. Every investigation is different. The information on this page is provided for general educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship with Blank Law, PC. If law enforcement has contacted you or you believe you are under investigation, speak with a qualified defense attorney about the specific facts of your case.
Blank Law, PC
3150 Livernois Road, Suite 126
Troy, Michigan 48083
(248) 515-6583
We are located on the Northeast corner of Big Beaver & Livernois in the Venture Plaza Office Building.
Fill out the contact form or call us at 248-515-6583 to schedule your free consultation.
