Florida man sentenced to life for rape, murder of Madeline Soto, his girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter
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.
The plea agreement allowed Sterns to avoid a potential death sentence. Prosecutors had announced plans to seek the death penalty during his murder trial, scheduled for later this year.
Family and friends, including Madeline Soto's father Tyler Wallace, addressed the court through tears prior to sentencing.
Wallace delivered a scathing rebuke: "I can't grasp the selfishness of you, the deplorability of your actions. You're depraved, you're weak, you're a coward." He added, "It doesn't heal with time."
Authorities believe Sterns sexually molested, strangled Madeline Soto, and dumped her body in a wooded area.
Madeline Soto was reported missing Feb. 26, 2024, after her mother, Jennifer Soto, said she didn't find the teenager when she went to pick her up from Hunter's Creek Middle School.
Law enforcement found her body on March 1, 2024, in a wooded area near St. Cloud, about 30 miles south of Orlando.
While searching for Madeline Soto, investigators uncovered images on Sterns' phone and Google Drive showing him abusing the teenager. Despite Sterns factory-resetting his phone on the day the teen went missing, claiming he was trying to update it, detectives recovered child pornography and evidence indicating Sterns had been sexually abusing the girl as far back as 2022.
Surveillance footage captured Sterns throwing items into a dumpster at a Kissimmee apartment complex the morning Madeline Soto disappeared. The teen's backpack and school-issued laptop were later found in that same dumpster.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.
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