Credit: Inside the MagicWARNING: The following article mentions and/or discusses topics that may be distressing for certain audiences. Reader discretion is advised.
It was a shocking headline that dominated national headlines in February 2024 — 13-year-old Madeline Soto had disappeared from her Kissimmee, Florida, home. She was first reported missing by her mother on February 26, and one day later, the Orange County Sheriff’s office asked the public for any information on her whereabouts.
On February 28, a massive search was launched, but tragically, just two days later, her body was found in a wooded area. Kissimmee police took over and announced that the case was now a homicide investigation and Madeline had been strangled to death.
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From the beginning, Stephan Sterns, the boyfriend of Madeline’s mother, was the primary suspect in her disappearance and murder. The day Madeline was reported missing, authorities found evidence of Sterns throwing items away in a dumpster. Those items turned out to be Madeline’s backpack and school-issued computer. That same day, he performed a factory reset on his phone.
It turns out that Sterns was very familiar with the Orlando/Kissimmee area, and had even spent time working as a cast member at Walt Disney World Resort. When asked, Disney said that Mr. Sterns was not a Disney World cast member, but refused to say whether he had worked for them in the past.
From the start of the investigation, Sterns claimed that he had nothing to do with Madeline’s disappearance.
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Unfortunately, the investigation into Madeline’s disappearance and murder showed that he was not as innocent as he was claiming to be. On February 29, Sterns gave police permission to search his phone, and they found something shocking. On Sterns’ Google Cloud, investigators found pictures and videos that proved Sterns had been molesting Madeline for years, starting when she was just eight years old.
On April 25, Sterns was officially charged with first-degree murder in Madeline’s death, and the State Attorney’s office confirmed that it would be seeking the death penalty.
Madeline’s mother was never arrested in connection with her daughter’s murder. She originally said that she believed her boyfriend was innocent, but after being shown evidence, she admitted that Sterns was a “master liar” who had been abusing her child.
While Sterns originally maintained his innocence, he has now finally admitted to the horrific things he did to an innocent young girl.
On July 21, Sterns officially pleaded no contest to raping and killing Madeline. It was an unexpected move, as he was set to go to trial later this month. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison, as his plea deal took the death penalty off the table.
According to a report from CBS News:
Stephan Sterns was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of 13-year-old Madeline Soto, and an additional life sentence for 20 sex offenses, including sexual battery of a child, Osceola County Circuit Judge Keith Carsten ordered, according to Orlando CBS affiliate WKMG.
Sterns pleaded no contest to the first-degree murder charge and guilty to all 20 counts of sex crimes during a plea hearing Monday afternoon. This abrupt change came just as he was expected to go on trial this week for the sexual battery charges. Sterns had previously pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing and murdering Madeline Soto, the daughter of his former girlfriend.
Before he was sentenced to multiple life sentences, Madeline’s father, Tyler Wallace, was allowed to read a victim impact statement. Through tears, he called Sterns “depraved,” “weak,” and a “coward.” He said that time does not ease the pain of losing his daughter, and that he hopes that Sterns experiences exactly what Madeline went through as he spends the rest of his life behind bars.
We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Madeline Soto. May she forever rest in peace.