Allegan County has long prided itself on being “tough on crime,” (we all know what that really means) but the documents we’ve reviewed tell a different story; one where prosecutors, judges, and Safe Harbor, the county’s children’s advocacy center, blurred lines of authority and accountability in ways that undermined victims and justice alike.
The case of People v. Daniel Loew (and the damning FOIA request that spawned from it) exposed systemic failures: missed victim referrals, inadequate investigations, and prosecutorial oversights so glaring that even judges privately acknowledged the dysfunction.
Instead of accountability, the system circled its wagons.
Confirmed: Safe Harbor was Under Prosecutorial Control
The conflicts run deep, and the FOIA request that cemented Loew as part of the Judicial Disqualification benchbook, gives us the big picture. Former Prosecutor Myrene Koch not only oversaw cases but also sat as President of Safe Harbor’s board.
And she wasn’t alone. Barry and Van Buren County Prosecutors, as well as current Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker, are still board members. This means these individuals are still controlling policies and potentially handing themselves cases. That means the very office that has been prosecuting child abuse cases was directly shaping the policies and procedures of the nonprofit responsible for victim services.
Allow me to reiterate: a prosecutor and a judge had active control over an organization that was supposed to be independent, raising troubling questions about impartiality, oversight, and conflicts of interest. They had every incentive to feign effectiveness; to maintain a sense of superiority and correctness in child abuse investigations.
Even when they knew cases were mishandled and admitted law enforcement was inadequate. To be viewed as wrong, or worse, corrupt, would open them up to lawsuits for acting outside of the color of law.
As a reminder, Judge Matthew Antkoviak, then an attorney, was at one time on People v. Loew, representing Daniel Loew, himself.
When Koch was eventually ousted as prosecutor, she also lost her Safe Harbor role; proof of just how entangled the two had become. Tellingly, current Allegan County Prosecutor Michael Villar does not serve on that board.
Judge Bakker and Prosecutor Koch Admit Michigan State Police personnel were “Subpar”
Private (ex parte) emails between Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker and then Prosecutor Myrene Koch reveal something the public rarely hears: both acknowledged that Michigan State Police investigations were inadequate.
The Trooper involved? Eric Desch, an all too familiar name around clutch.
At one point, Bakker openly asked why there weren’t real detectives working these cases anymore. Koch admitted that interns were handling sensitive victim lists and that Safe Harbor was failing to catch serious issues, like children not even being referred for medical exams.
This is worth repeating; a prosecutor put into writing, that Safe Harbor would implement a new checklist, confirming direct control over policies and procedures, especially in her role as then Board President. Under her direction, interns were also handling sensitive victim lists.
Instead of addressing these direct conflicts and structural failures, the system kept moving forward, with lives, families, and justice hanging in the balance.
The Eric Pierce Case: When Fathers Fight Back
The packet also highlights another Allegan case: People v. Eric Pierce. Pierce was a father who pushed back against a system weaponized against him by his ex-wife.
Yet, even in Pierce’s case, misconduct reared its head.
Former Judge Roberts Kengis attempts to get then Assistant Prosecutor Emily Jipp in trouble, while he himself was actively railroading Eric Pierce and dragging him through an unnecessary criminal case; one he ultimately beat. This pattern of mismanagement shows that the dysfunction wasn’t limited to one case in the Allegan County Court House; it was, and may still be, systemic.
All of this begs a very serious question: how many people have been traumatized by this blatant judicial misconduct?
The Larger Problem
What do we learn from these cases?
- Conflicts of interest: A prosecutor and judge having direct influence over Safe Harbor’s policies raises serious ethical concerns.
- Admission of subpar policing: Even insiders admit the Michigan State Police’s investigations are lacking. How can we trust any prosecution where MSP is involved? Especially Eric Desch when considering he bungled this and a child abuse case, one that Myrene was also aware of, and put an allegedly alcoholic assistant prosecutor in charge of.
- Systemic failures on Safe Harbor’s part: Failing to conduct necessary medical exams, allowing interns to handle sensitive matters, judges intentionally intervening in the administration of justice and behaving like they are still prosecutors.
- Weaponized justice: Fathers like Eric Pierce forced to fight against a system that enables personal vendettas instead of protecting families.
This isn’t just negligence; it’s a system protecting itself at the expense of the very people it falsely claims to serve.
Pulling It Together
When prosecutors directly control watchdog organizations, when judges privately admit police are failing, and when families are destroyed by weaponized prosecutions, the trust that justice depends on collapses entirely.
Allegan County’s Safe Harbor involvement shows us the cost of blurred lines and unchecked power: victims betrayed, families broken, and public safety eroded.
We need to call on an independent auditor to look into every single Safe Harbor case. At this point, we know that the scales of justice were tipped. We just don’t know the full severity.
It’s time for Michigan to take conflicts of interest seriously, demand independence in victim services, and hold prosecutors and judges accountable for the systems they intentionally and knowingly failing.
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