Madeline Soto’s disappearance in February preceded murder charges being filed against her mother’s boyfriend — and Soto’s mother allegedly allowed her 13-year-old daughter share a bed with the man for years, the mother told investigators in Florida.
Madeline was reported missing on on Feb. 26, in Kissimmee, Fla., and her mother’s boyfriend, Stephan Sterns, 37, was arrested days later on unrelated charges of possessing child sex abuse material, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said at the time. He is now charged with murder in connection with the girl’s death.
The investigation uncovered photos and videos on Sterns’ phone of him allegedly sexually abusing a child, WESH, WFLA and FOX 35 reported at the time, citing an arrest affidavit.
In an interview that took place hours before Madeline’s body was found on March 1, her mother Jennifer Soto told Orange County officers about the child’s relationship with Sterns and the overall dynamics in the household, according to the interview clip shared by Click 2 Orlando.
During the interview with an Orange County officer, Jennifer is seen saying that she, her daughter and Sterns often slept in the same bed at night, and that on many of these occasions, Sterns would allegedly be in his boxers. Jennifer alleges in the video that sometimes she would wake up in the morning to see her boyfriend “snuggling” her daughter.
When the officer asks her if she ever thought that was “weird,” she says no.
Madeline would be in the “nook of his arm,’” she says in the interview, during which she breaks down several times.
Stephan Sterns.
Orange County jail
Jennifer spoke to investigators more than once, and during a previous exchange, she’d been made aware that Sterns allegedly had child sex abuse material on his phone — including images of Sterns allegedly abusing Madeline.
At one point in the interview, when the officer tells her that her distress appears insincere to him, Jennifer says she had been “oblivious” about Sterns’ alleged sexual abuse of Madeline, which police allege dated as far back as 2020.
In April, Sterns was charged with murder in connection with Madeline’s death, PEOPLE previously reported, citing Osceola County court records. A supplemental report released by the sheriff’s office stated that a medical examiner determined she died from strangulation, per FOX 35 Orlando, WESH and Click Orlando.
