Michigan – Federal prosecutors announced that a federal grand jury has charged a Michigan elementary school teacher with several counts of child exploitation. The investigation started at a U.S. border crossing.
Authorities said that 38-year-old Martin Daryl Waskowski is being charged with se*ual exploitation children as well as possession and distribution of child por*ography. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan is in charge of the case, with help from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations.
According to court records, the investigation began on December 3, 2025, when Waskowski was crossing the border from Canada into the United States and stopped for inspection in Vermont. Customs and Border Protection personnel looked at Waskowski’s electronic devices during the check. Later, investigators found that the cell phone and laptop he had with him had what looked like child por*ography.
After that, officials from Homeland Security Investigations got a search warrant for Waskowski’s residence in Royal Oak. Law enforcement took several electronic devices during the search. Prosecutors say that forensic reviews of those objects found many files with child por*ography, including videos and photographs of adults se*ually assaulting very young children.
Investigators allege the case goes beyond possession and distribution. Federal officials allege Waskowski tried to make child por*ography by secretly filming a youngster in a bathroom with a hidden camera. To protect the child’s identity, no information about the victim has been made public.
Waskowski is also facing separate federal child exploitation charges in Vermont that are related to the same investigation as the Michigan case. He remains in jail and is waiting for a detention hearing in federal court in Detroit on December 22.
Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., the U.S. Attorney, spoke out against the alleged behavior, saying that the claims were very unsettling and that offenses that involve positions of trust are quite severe.
“These alleged crimes are disgusting,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon. “It is a parent’s worst nightmare to have a predator teaching our children. I am thankful for the men and women who find and prosecute these evil people.”
Homeland Security Investigations officials said the case was the result of coordinated efforts between agents in Detroit and Burlington, Vermont, along with Customs and Border Protection officers. Investigators are asking anyone with information related to the case to contact HSI at [email protected].