Abuser’s Shocking Plea in Starved 35lb Teen’s Case

This is, this is beyond what somebody could probably think of in some sort of horror movie. This is the case of a 14-year-old girl who weighed just 35 pounds when she was rescued from a true house of horrors. For years, she was only allowed to leave a room to use the bathroom and that is it. But justice is finally coming in this case and authorities say these four family members are responsible. For years, I looked at my wife and I was like, yes, I. The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider is back at Taco Bell. The slider-sized Crunchwrap with nuggets inside you love the first time, now with a spicy kick you're gonna love this time. Hidden Valley Diablo Ranch. Or you could order some crispy all-white meat nuggets on their own. Pretty sure you love those anytime. Every time. Okay, all of the times. The Crispy Chicken Crunchwrap Slider. A brand new classic is back, only at Taco Bell. At participating U.S. Taco Bell locations for a limited time and while subscribing to Taco Bell, that is the voice of the teen girl who survived that nightmare and today we saw another one of these adults plead guilty. Responsible for physical and psychological abuse so bad, it's hard to find the right words to describe it. We're on the case presented by Law & Crime. I'm Chris Stewart. I'll show you here in a moment the judge in this case. He was loaded on one of the defendants this week and for good reason. It's hard to find good news in a story like this, but the truth is, if there is anything positive, it's that justice is finally coming in one of the worst child abuse cases that we have seen in some time, which frankly is saying a lot because it is an issue we cover a lot. But this one, and you will see why, is in a league of its own. Now the victim in this case, who delivered a powerful statement in court, weighed just 35 pounds when she was arrested. She was rescued from a home that she was confined to for years in August of last year. This took place in Wisconsin. And when first responders arrived at the house, they thought the girl was maybe six years old. She was 14. She nearly died because of just how malnourished she was. I want you to look at this video here per WLUK television in Green Bay. This is from a hearing for one of the defendants who was sent to prison this week for this case. Her name is Kayla Stemler. We'll talk about her in just a moment. Also, her former partner was in court today, Savannah LaFever. We'll talk about her as well. Now prosecutors say this victim was confined to just a small space, only allowed to leave a room to go to the bathroom a couple times a day inside this home in Oneida, Wisconsin, outside Green Bay. This was the girl's life for years. And once she was taken from that home, paramedics took her to a hospital. And this is the part of the criminal complaint that really sticks with you because a nurse said that when she told the girl that she could have three meals a day, and eat off a hospital menu, really eat whatever she wanted, the girl's eyes lit up because she could finally eat. And to make it even more heartbreaking, police write that the girl said, quote, my dad will be so mad he doesn't like when I eat this much. So before we get to what just played out in the courtroom in Wisconsin, we need to break down how we got to this point. And it's a lot. This story goes all the way back to 2020 because that's when this young girl moves in with her biological father, Walter Goodman. According to the criminal complaint, the girl's biological mom went to prison and Walter Goodman gets full custody of this victim. She was just nine years old at the time that she moved in. And she's only identified as MJG in court documents. Now, according to the complaint, the girl lived in her bedroom inside the trailer and investigators say her door was locked from the outside. So she couldn't get out. Police say that her, her dad also installed a camera inside her room. So he could watch her. He would only let the girl leave so she could use the bathroom. That's it. Now her dad says Walter Goodman that he had to do this because the girl had a history of self harm and was autistic. Goodman made a couple other interesting comments. We'll say when police arrived, which we'll talk about here in a second, but you gotta understand the condition that this girl was in. And it's not easy to talk about. So the girl, wait, 35 pounds and for perspective at 14, you should at least be around a hundred, but it goes much deeper than just what a scale would show because she was diagnosed with severe malnutrition that had caused multiple organs to fail. Like her liver, her pancreas, her heart was also affected by this. Her body temperature was hypothermic at the time she was rescued. She also had osteoporosis at 14. That's a condition you typically see. Elderly people have and she had pressure sores from lying on the floor. And according to the criminal complaint, she was so weak. She couldn't even turn on the faucet or the shower. She had to use the wall for support just to walk from her bed to the bathroom. A prosecutor said she was quote very, very close to death and the girl's blood sugar was 24. That is life threateningly low. Now police came upon this nightmare situation because the girl's dad, Walter Goodman called nine one, one and we have the back and forth that he has with the dispatcher. There's a lot there. I'm not going to read all of it, but I want to read you some key parts. Quote. I have a 14 year old daughter that she don't barely eat. So she looks really skinny and she also is autistic. So if she don't want to eat, she don't eat. So the last four days, four or five days, she'd been sick, throwing up. And I've been giving her the liquid IVs and all that. Kind of stuff today. She's real lethargic and like was throwing her arm up, laying on her bed, throwing her arm up. And now she's just like laying there. Like she's comatose, but she's, her eyes are open and she's moaning and she's throwing her arms around. When the dispatcher says that paramedics are on the way, Walter says, tell them that I'll have her sitting on my lap in the living room. My porch is broke. So I'll grab her and bring her out. You read that and Walter's acting like he has no idea how his daughter got to this point. So here's some of the back. Show button here. Football is finally back and prize picks is going crazy with the deals to start the season. Giving out promos every day in September on prize picks. You can make all the picks you want all in the same app. And now prize picks is available nationwide. So what are you waiting for? Lock in for kickoff because everyone and everything is on prize picks. What you want? Download the app today and use code. Spotify to get $150 instantly in lineups. If you win your first $5 lineup prize picks run your game. Do you hear that? That sound, right? That means that summer is officially here. It means that grown adults just sprint into the street for a frozen dessert shaped like a cartoon. But this summer, mint mobile has a better tree. Every plan, including unlimited is $15 a month. And unlike ice cream, it won't drip down your wrist or look nothing like the picture. Does anyone have any cash? Give it a try at mint mobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months. Or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent to taxes and fees. Extra new customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. May slow and network is busy. See terms and forth with the dispatcher. 911 says, do you think she's breathing normally? And Walter says, no, she's breathing real on and off. Then 911 says, what do you mean? She's breathing on and off. Does she stop breathing? And Walter says, no, her stomach goes down. Then it goes rapid. And then it kind of goes, you know what I mean? And the dispatcher says, is she bleeding or vomiting any blood? And Walter says, no. And then the dispatcher, ah, asks if she has any pain. And Walter says, I don't know. She won't even talk. She's just laying there with her eyes open. All creepy. Now, Walter says the girl is also grinding her teeth and stiffening up in his arms. It just paints a picture for you. The rough shape this girl was in, but police finally got on scene. And as this girl is being tended to by first responders officers interview, Walter, when asked how long his daughter had been in this condition, Walter allegedly says, quote, probably like the last, hour I thought I thought, well, you know, maybe that's what it was is her sugar low. So I gave her a little bit of wild cherry Pepsi and she swallowed it down. Walter said he gave the girl a cherry Pepsi because her biological mom was diabetic. And he thought that might help. Walter told police that he hadn't taken the girl to a doctor in nearly five years. He said six days before he called nine one, one, the girl said her stomach hurt. Walter said that she felt better after three days. So he didn't, bring her to the doctor. He just brought her a bucket so she could puke. He also said that the girl ate an entire frozen pizza for lunch. And then hours later she was throwing up. He also said that the girl didn't sleep. So she burned up all her energy, which is why she weighed so little. That is his opinion per the criminal complaint. Now, clearly the kind of situation this girl was in weighing 35 pounds. It doesn't happen overnight. Certainly not in the last hour or so, like Walter is alleging now police arrested Walter Goodman. They also arrested his wife, the step-mom of the victim. Her name is Melissa Goodman. And they also arrested Melissa's adult daughter, Savannah Lefevre and her partner, Kayla Stemmler. Lefevre and Stemmler were the ones in court this week, which we'll talk about here in a second. Now the family members all tried to pass off the girl's condition, but then police were able to find some truly heartbreaking text messages. The girl's step-mom, Melissa Goodman referred to the victim as dummy or stupid. Police found a text that she sent her 15 year old son who also lived in the house. She texted quote, - Okay. Well, I just figured it'd be easier with dummy sleeping still. Can you please make sure the door is locked? And so is stupids, please. And okay, but make sure dummy's doors lock and make sure the front door is to when you key her in, but don't forget to check dummy's door, end quote. And Melissa was the first defendant to get prison time in this case. Last month, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison, followed by 10 years of extended supervision. The victim provided an audio recording where she called Goodman a monster. This is per WBAY-TV. You really ruined my childhood and it hurts that you did. You isolated me from my family. The only ones who actually cared, you had the choice to help when I needed it, but instead you joined in on the abuse and neglect. Now at that hearing, the victim talked about how her dad would physically beat her and Goodman just watched and did nothing. Here's what Goodman said. I know there's nothing I can say or do to fix it, but if I could go back and change things, I would. So now we need to talk about the two defendants who were in court this week. First, you have Kayla Stemler. Prosecutors say she may not have committed the abuse herself, but she was in the house, she knew what was going on, and she did nothing. And this is what the judge had to say to her. It's not just your inaction for days, weeks, months, years. It's you affirmatively doing things to add to this house of horrors and make no mistake about it. This is beyond what somebody could probably think of in some sort of horror movie. That's for WLUX. Now the judge didn't hold back. Stemler was given a chance to speak, and here's part of what she said. I cannot express in words how sorry I am for all the harm that I have caused. I know there are many things I should have done differently. I should have reported what I knew. I should have stuck to my values and not given in to peer pressure. I know what was going on was wrong, but I wasn't strong enough to stop it. Stemler was sentenced to eight years in prison. She was convicted on three counts, chronic neglect of a child with consequences, great bodily harm, chronic neglect of a child, consequences, emotional damage, and a charge of false imprisonment. Then you have Savannah Lefevre. That is the victim's stepsister and Kayla Stemler's former partner, and today she pleaded guilty in court. Court records reveal that Lefevre pleaded no, no contest to those three same counts as Stemler did, and she is set to be sentenced on December 3rd. Now, as far as Walter Goodman's case, interesting development has come in in recent weeks because if what is alleged is true, this man is a monster, right? Well, his case is still active, and Goodman is disputing the court finding that he is mentally competent to stand trial. He's due back in court October 30th. Join us now to talk more about this trial attorney. We'll be right back. I mean, Krista Ramey, always great to have you here on Law & Crime, especially, I mean, this case is just so bad in so many different ways. You know, as we lay out the four people who are charged, three of them are now convicted of these charges or at least pleaded that way. But you have like Kayla Stemler this week, and the judge had really strong words for her because she's not someone who's accused of the abuse, causing the abuse, but she was in the house. She worked out of the house. She was educated enough, the judge said, to know the truth. She knew the difference between right and wrong and to look at this situation, and she did nothing. How do you establish, you know, in the courtroom, like that level of guilt where it's, you know. Show button here. Football is finally back, and PrizePix is going crazy with the deals to start the season, giving out promos every day in September. On PrizePix, you can make all the picks you want, all in the same app. And now, PrizePix is available nationwide. Lock in for kickoff, because everyone, and everything is on PrizePix. What you want? Download the app today and use code SPOTIFY to get $150 instantly in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. PrizePix. Run your game. Do you hear that? That sound, right? That means that summer's officially here. But this summer, Mint Mobile has a better treat. Every plan, including Unlimited, is $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. Upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for a 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. It's not that she committed the abuse itself, but she saw it and she did nothing about it. So when you look at this case, it's kind of interesting because you have, you know, the stepmom, the father, the stepmom has fled and no contest, I think, and was sentenced. The father, nothing's happened, that trial hasn't happened yet. Then Savannah, who just fled, I guess, we just today or something. But Kayla is her, I guess, partner, Savannah's partner. She's not custodial. She does not have any control or obligation or responsibility to this child. So, you know, your immediate thought is why, how is she charged? What does she, you know, she wasn't the one responsible for this, this little girl. So why is she being charged? Aiding and abetting is why. So she is criminally culpable because she is literally assisting and allowing this abuse to be ongoing. And that is how you get there in terms of the the charge, the and then ultimately, you know, getting her to agree to a plea agreement. You know, so that that's how you get there for that for her. And I think that, you know, the judge was particularly hard on her because she was educated and worked outside the home, was someone who should just know better. She couldn't walk. You know, I mean, this girl, you know, it's just the idea, too, for like a like the line. There's several lines in this criminal complaint that stands out, but like paramedics thought this girl was maybe six, eight years old just because of her size. And she has osteoporosis, which is like what you see typically in people who are far older than than 14 years old. So it's it's definitely like not doing anything. It's like, how do you allow it? Just how do you even. You know, know that that's going on in the house and even leave the house and yet still do nothing when it comes to the timeline of how all four of these cases are playing out. And you had Melissa Goodman, who's the stepmom. She's serving 15. Kayla will get eight years with 10 supervised release. We'll see in December when LaFever is sentenced. But then you still have, you know, the person it seems prosecutors say was responsible. For all of this, the biological father, Walter Goodman. What do you make of the strategy? It seems from prosecutors of getting these convictions ahead of time, getting these sentences, working out plea deals ahead of time and then building up potentially. And I know we'll talk about kind of his cognitive state and all of that in a moment. But then having the most important person potentially in this entire case be the last one that they'll end up prosecuting because he's your target. That's why he's the last. And they they wanted to get pleas from the others because that will help with the conviction with him and getting, you know, the most out of that conviction. And I think so. I think that's why the pleas are happening the way that they're happening. And I think I asked you off the air, like whether or not Savannah's was like a blind plea or if it was a negotiating, we don't know. But I suspect it was a negotiated plea to get her to testify as well. So all of these people have most likely agreements with the state. Right. To testify against Walter. And so that's why he's the last man standing is because he's the one that they are there. He was the custodial parent. He was a biological parent. He was the one responsible. You know, you've got to, you know, a stepmom, a step sibling and a step sibling's girlfriend also now convicted. So you know, he was the person responsible. And you know, this child got down to thirty five pounds and just I can't even imagine what she must have looked like. How horrific it must have been when the first responders came in and saw what they saw. They had to have known immediately. And thankfully, she's still alive, you know, and I know that they said that she was very, very close to death. But I mean, when you think of I mean, her organs were failing, her heart was hurt by this. And it just seems like the way that Walter explains how he was caring for this girl, certainly the lack thereof of his own daughter. But it's like, you know, to call 911 and be like, yeah, she's been acting off for the last hour. And it's like you don't get to this condition over something of the last hour. And even with that, like giving her like cherry Pepsi, you know, in that situation when like I can't imagine she had had water any time recently, it was just it's such a horrific case. When it comes to Walter, he is now arguing that he is not competent to stand trial. So they do the psych evaluation. He comes back. They say you are competent to stand trial. You knew what was going on. And he says, no, let's do it again. His attorneys are contesting that. I mean, Lori Ballard Daybell was found competent to stand trial. And that woman had delusions like, you know, that she was waiting for God, basically. Yes. So, you know, there's zero chance that he is going to be found incompetent to stand trial. You just have to be able to assist your attorney, basically. And if you can do that, then you're competent to stand trial. You could be crazy as all get out. and still be confident to stand trial. low bar and of course like if he's found incompetent to stay on trial that doesn't mean that he can't be competent again in the future until that time right and well and i think too like the 9-1-1 in the criminal complaint that like lays out the conversation he's having with dispatchers shows that he's pretty well aware of like this girl's condition at least from his perspective which you know he talked about you know the mom and like the mom was diabetic maybe his daughter's diabetic i mean all of it is probably the worst medical advice or medical care that anyone's ever received i mean like the cherry pepsi part of it giving her like a full show button here football is finally back and prize picks is going crazy with the deals to start the season giving out promos every day in september on prize picks you can make all the picks you want all in the same app and now prize picks is available nationwide so what are you waiting for lock in for kickoff because everyone and everything is on prize picks what you want download the app today and use code spotify to get 150 instantly in lineups if you win your first five dollar lineup prize picks run your game ryan reynolds here for mint mobile with your summer price forecast now unfortunately we're seeing rising costs across the country with possibility that big wireless hates you 100 percent now over here at mint mobile we're seeing sunny skies and dropping prices every plan to just 15 a month give it a try at mintmobile.com switch upfront payment of 45 for three months 90 for six months or 180 for 12 month plan required 15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra new customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy see terms pizza and then confused as to why she's throwing up when like she has an eight it seems like in a long time i'm not a doctor but i think we can all see like that's just not the way that you you care for someone um and the evidence was so much i mean like the 9-1-1 call you know he laid out like what her mission was but then when they get there like there's a deadbolt on the door on the outside yes you're in you know um so there i mean there's ev there's like all sorts of evidence they immediately see that is incredibly alarming well and i think too for like this case and like we're talking off air about this like this isn't the first time we've talked about something like this like there are multiple cases like we continue to cover where behind closed doors you have these types of situations and it's just it leaves you wondering like and it's scary to think about like how often this is happening um this case immediately made me think of a case uh Chandra van der Ark who was tried and convicted in Michigan a couple years ago she had an autistic son that she allowed to die she kept him chained to the bed she locked up the refrigerator so if he did get out of his chained up situation he couldn't get food you know that is you know almost a very deliberate attempt almost to kill this child I think when I'm looking at this case I feel very similar that you know there is there is evidence here that this was you know very deliberate he's not giving this child nourishment and this child is not getting exercise this child is basically trapped um it sounds like you know that it is like why are you doing this you know why are you not feeding her you're intending to do something you're intending to do serious bodily harm if not kill her how do you craft a defense knowing that the prosecution has you certainly have the people in the home as witnesses but there are going to be pictures that show what this girl looked like you're going to hear from paramedics who um probably think about this case every single night because of what they witnessed on the day that they rescued this girl last year from this house but from the defense standpoint like where do you go from here um you know there's a reason why I'm not a criminal defense attorney Chris but um I think that it is about mitigating um you you almost you put up a defense your defense is make the prosecution prove their case and then after you get your conviction then you're putting on all of your mitigating evidence about why the sentence shouldn't be as bad as it should be because of mental health issues of um you know health issues of all of these other things the trauma that he might have had as a child or as an adult so you're gathering that sort of information to mitigate because you're gonna get a conviction there is digital evidence and that you know you know that where they're discussing not feeding her that she'll get fed tomorrow you know we can just leave her at home right you know people wondering where the child is and she's missing you know so there there is a lot of evidence in this case it is going to be you can't just overcome it you know so make the prosecution do their job and then step out of it at sentencing is what I would do is my approach because I I also just think and like like I don't think that this is this would be a good defense but like you know how far does you know his you know the biological mom of this girl you know ends up going to according to what he said in the criminal complaint she goes to prison and then suddenly he's charged with taking care of um a girl he says is on the autism spectrum I don't know if that's been that's been proven as of yet and it's like you know still you're talking about someone that gets the age of like you did nothing like you know 14 years old and like 35 pounds you just wonder like those types of like mitigating factors like if there's a lack of education there um it just doesn't seem like it just you know what can a defense do and it seems like you're steamrolling towards what's going to be like a very very steep prison sentence I I think that that's right and you know when you you know autistic or not um you know there probably is no history of a diagnosis Chris because there was probably no wellness visit visits for this child probably the established pediatrician probably hasn't been to a doctor since she was you know a toddler and when her you know when she had someone around that maybe loved her a little you know so I I think that you know all of that is going to just compile upon you know a you know on things you know more and more and more and you're going to get to a point where you know this is going to be you know for sure a conviction I can't imagine why it wouldn't be well I just wonder too I mean for this girl and you know she has spoken in court she provided audio recordings which still that is incredibly brave to be able I mean to survive any of this you know is an incredible level of bravery but I just wonder like she's likely 15 now because she was 14 when she was rescued last year um what happens to her I mean she'll be an adult in three years you know there's no income there's no you know where do you get the support where do you get you know what what is really in place for the state to do to help someone like this you know in cases that you've seen when people are victims of of just um I know this one kind of stands alone but like victims of abuse like who's there for them when you have family members that are going to prison like this well there are but before you know to that point though there there was systemic failure for this child you know as well that already failed her because this she was basically just she was gone for five years basically and so you know where show button here football is finally back and prize pics is going crazy with the deals to start the season giving out promos every day in September on prize pics you can make all the pics you want all in the same app and now prize pics is available nationwide so what are you waiting for lock in for kickoff because everyone and everything is on prize pics what you want download the app today and use code Spotify to get 150 dollars instantly in lineups if you win your first five dollar lineup prize pics run your game do you hear that that sound right that means that summer's officially here it means that grown adults just Sprint into the street for a frozen dessert shaped like a cartoon but this summer mint mobile has a better tree every plan including unlimited is 15 a month and unlike ice cream it won't uh drip down your wrist or look nothing like the picture does anyone have any cash give it a try at mintmobile.com switch up from payment of 45 for three months ninety dollars for six months or 180 for 12 month plan required 15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra new customer offer for initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy see terms where was anyone looking for like her truant record you know there was covid and then she never came back so you know where's the follow-up to find out why this child wasn't going to school you know the state has obligations as well there's compulsory education and you know by the way hey that's a really good way to check on things you know um if uh if there's homeschooling there's you have to learn that you don't you don't just have a child in homeschool and the state of Wisconsin never checks in right there's no medical contact that ends in covid year in 2020. so there is like legitimate like why didn't someone from the Department of Children's Services come and check up on this family either you know so the system has already failed her and it's going to be very difficult for her to trust anyone in this in any system but there is a lot of um there's a lot of resources out there there's a lot of benevolent you know organizations the philanthropic organizations you know Catholic organizations are the religious organizations that do help and and there's also state ones as well um I think that you know she will be in the foster care system obviously um now because she is unless she can you know get emancipated which she may be able to at 15. but how will she take care of herself you know does she have maybe some other relatives that um didn't know about the abuse that could step in and help you know maybe I don't know um I didn't see any that in the reporting, but just overall, she's going to live with this for the rest of her lives. This, this, this has, this will be a trauma that will forever be there and that she will always need help for it. Yeah. It's a terrifying story, you know, and, and for her to get out of that house is, is certainly the good part of it, but you were just seeing like each allegation that, that is coming through in this case. We'll see what happens with Goodman. You know, Walter Goodman is going to be in court in October, and then we'll see as far as the sentencing for LaFever, which was his stepdaughter. We'll see what her sentence is in December and how long this case goes on. Krista Ramey, trial attorney, always great to have you on Law and Crime. These are not easy stories to talk about. We appreciate it. They're not, but thanks for having me. Important to keep discussing them. That will do it for On the Case presented by Law and Crime. Subscribe to us on YouTube and Spotify, and we're also streaming on Peacock. I'm Chris Stewart. We'll see you next time. you