Grosse Ile Man Charged with Child Pornography Offenses

DETROIT - Michael Wendt, 38, of Grosse Ile, Michigan was arrested on July 21, 2026, and charged with child pornography offenses, announced Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Wendt was detained after a detention hearing, July 24, 2026, in federal court in Detroit.

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division.

According to the criminal complaint, it is alleged that in June 2026, Wendt uploaded child sexually abusive material (CSAM) to his Google Drive account. Following the execution of a search warrant, agents seized Wendt's cell phone and during a manual review found several hundred images of CSAM, including images that depicted sexual assaults of young children, infants, and toddlers. Agents also found open websites on the phone depicting CSAM.

The FBI is aware that Wendt worked as a physician's assistant at urgent care offices in the Detroit area. Currently, the FBI has no information suggesting that any patients were victimized. In response to numerous public inquiries, the FBI has established a website seeking relevant information from the public for the ongoing criminal investigation.

If you and/or your minor dependent(s) have information relevant to this investigation, please fill out this short form.Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. If you or your minor dependent is identified as a victim in this case, all identities of victims will be kept confidential.

A criminal complaint is only a charging document and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is being investigated by agents of the FBI with the assistance of the Grosse Ile Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean King and Tara Hindelang.