Sometimes the biggest danger to a child doesn’t come from the street.
It comes from the courtroom.
That’s the allegation now leveled at Judge Matthew Antkoviak of Allegan County, who is being accused of systematically denying a mother’s rights, ignoring warnings of abuse, and placing a child into dangerous custody arrangements, all while the law says the opposite should have happened.
The Background
Consider this case:
February 1, 2024: The child’s father, who shared 50/50 legal custody, died by suicide. Under Michigan law, the surviving parent (clutch is protecting her identity) should have been the default custodial parent. She has no CPS cases, no abuse or neglect findings, no financial incapacity, and has never been declared unfit.
But instead of honoring those rights, Judge Antkoviak allegedly launched a year-long custody saga that stripped this woman of her daughter.
The Custody Decisions
After the father’s death, custody wasn’t given to the mother in this story.
It was handed first to her brother. That brother allegedly returned the daughter to her deceased father’s home prior to his suicide, creating what our source describes as an unsafe environment.
Judge Antkoviak later granted full custody to the father’s sister, moving the child an hour away, changing her school, and even allowing her to make medical decisions. All of this while ignoring our source’s repeated emergency motions warning of abuse and neglect.
Judge Antkoviak’s Pattern of Threats and Intimidation
If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same playbook clutch has reported on before. Clutch has received multiple tips about Judge Antkoviak’s behavior in custody proceedings, none of them particularly good.
- During a particularly bitter custody battle, Antkoviak allegedly threatened one side’s attorney that he would “give the children away” if his courtroom authority was challenged.
- In another case before he became Judge, while he was a Legal Guardian Ad Litem, he refused to meet a family with a disabled, wheelchair bound child anywhere but his office, which did not have a wheelchair ramp.
- Both of these cases occurred while his wife oversaw, and still oversees, Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center.
These events depict a disturbing pattern: custody outcomes decided not by the best interest of the child, but by a judge’s temper and personal power plays.
A Daughter’s Words
In one chilling text message, our source’s daughter reached out to her and wrote:
“Mom, I do love you. I do want to come home. But I feel like if I let myself love you like I used to, I’ll hurt even more than I already do.”
Our source describes this as a trauma response; a child suppressing emotions just to survive. She says her daughter has become numb, cut off from her, and left in the care of guardians she never asked for.
The Allegations Against Judge Matthew Antkoviak
The source also describes actions clutch has seen out of Antkoviak over multiple cases:
- Judicial bias and misconduct: hiding motions, delaying hearings for nearly a year, and abandoning his own review schedule.
- Ignoring evidence of abuse: dismissing warning signs of her daughter’s deteriorating mental health.
- Conflict of interest: his wife runs Safe Harbor, a local abuse and neglect center in Allegan, which our source suggests it creates an incentive to minimize abuse findings.
- Intimidation: threatening, and then making good on, weaponizing custody rulings against attorneys and families.
She believes the court’s decisions amount to judicially sanctioned child abuse.
A Desperate Plea
Our new source ends her letter with this:
“I need to save my daughter from the corruption of Allegan County and the monsters that run it. Please help me expose the abuse that the judges of Allegan County commit.”
You got it. Clutch is on the case.
What’s Next
Clutch Justice will continue investigating these claims, reviewing court filings, and examining how Allegan County’s judicial system is handling cases where children’s lives and safety are at stake.
If you have information about Judge Matthew Antkoviak, Allegan County custody cases, or similar experiences, reach out: hello@clutchjustice.com.
Because when a court becomes a weapon against children instead of their shield, the system isn’t broken; it’s complicit.
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