Murdered Florida schoolgirl Madeline Soto’s stepfather has been charged with 60 child pornography and sex abuse crimes, but not with the 13-year-old’s murder, although he is the prime suspect.
Stephan Sterns, 37, the boyfriend of Jenn Soto, Madeline’s mother, was indicted Tuesday on a series of new charges involving children.
The charges include: sexual battery on a child under 12; five counts of sexually abusing a child between the ages of 12 and 8; seven counts of lewd and lascivious assault. Additionally, 40 counts of unlawful possession of 10 or more images depicting a sexual act of a child, according to the Kissimmee Police Department.
Sterns was already charged with sexually abusing a child under 12 and was being held without bond in the Osceola County Jail.
Officials said he has not been charged in connection with Soto’s death.
Madeline ‘Maddie” Soto disappeared on February 26, a day after she celebrated her 13th birthday on February 22
Stephan Sterns, 37, was charged Tuesday with a slew of new charges, including sexual assault of a child under 12; five counts of sexually abusing a child aged 12-18; seven counts of lewd and lascivious assault
Soto’s body was found in a wooded area in Osceola County on March 1
Stearns allegedly drove his stepdaughter to school on the morning of February 26 and claimed he dropped her off at a nearby church.
When Soto’s mother went to pick up her daughter at her middle school, Hunter’s Creek Middle School, she discovered that her daughter never showed up.
Mother, Jennifer Soto, is pictured with her 13-year-old daughter Maddie
The frantic mother called the police and filed a missing person’s report.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies searched extensively for the teenager using bloodhounds as they searched the grounds of the school and the nearby area, eventually expanding their search.
Missing posters of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Maddie Soto were also distributed and a press conference was held by Orange County Sheriff John Mina.
On February 28, three days after Soto disappeared, Stearns was arrested on unrelated charges and named the ‘prime suspect’ in the case.
On March 1, Stearns is moved by police from Orange County to Osceola County.
Police found messages on Madeline’s phone saying that when she was 13 she wanted to ‘live in the woods’. The girl is seen in a photo with her mother Jenn and her boyfriend Sterns
Orange County Sheriff John Mina and Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland announce their investigation has led them to believe 13-year-old Madeline Soto was killed by primary suspect Stephan Sterns
Soto’s The body was found in the woods during a coordinated search in the area off Hickory Tree Road around 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. She was in the clothes she was last wearing – a green sweatshirt, black shorts and white Crocs.
According to reports, Sterns was seen driving his silver 2010 Lincoln MK car with the teenager’s lifeless body still in the vehicle after throwing his backpack and laptop in the trash.
The area where Soto’s body was discovered is where Sterns had been seen driving and seen on the side of the road changing tires.
Soto was reported missing Monday night in Orlando, Florida, after initial reports that she was last seen that morning near Town Loop Boulevard and Hunter’s Park Lane.
But police have since said she may have already died during her last sighting.
Deputies said they believe Madeline was never dropped off at Hunter’s Creek Middle School Monday morning and was dead by then.
They also said Sterns allegedly moved her body in the early hours of Monday after killing her in Kissimmee.
Police found the teenager’s body a short distance from where she lived
On Friday afternoon, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference stating that they were ‘certain’ that the girl was dead.
Sheriff John Mina broke the ‘devastating news’ to Madeline’s mother Jenn on Thursday night.
“We believe he moved her body in the early hours of the morning and all of that is still under investigation,” Sheriff Mina explained.
‘The search continues as we speak and we have people working around the clock. So every lead that comes in, every piece of evidence that we receive, we’ll follow up on it and if it leads us to a new search area, we’ll be out all weekend, Mina said.