Left to right: Walter Goodman, Savanna LeFever, and Kayla Stemler (Outagamie County Sheriff's Office).
A man and two women in Wisconsin are accused of severely neglecting a 14-year-old girl in their care after authorities say they found the teen — who weighed just 35 pounds — "very, very close to death."
Walter S. Goodman, the victim's father, Savanna LeFever, the victim's adult stepsister, and Kayla Stemler, the stepsister's partner, were all taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of chronic child neglect resulting in great bodily harm and emotional damage.
According to the criminal complaint, Goodman called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 21, and reported that his daughter was autistic, had not eaten in "the last four [or] five days," and now appeared to be "comatose."
"She's just laying there with her eyes open all creepy," Goodman told the dispatcher, adding that the victim "does a lot of self-harm, so her legs look horrible." He also said that his daughter was "underweight" because "she just don't eat."
Upon arriving, first responders said the victim appeared severely underweight and malnourished, noting that "her collar bone, rib cage, hip, and cheek bones were very prominent, and that she looked to be the size of a 6- to 8-year-old child."
The victim was transported to St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. However, due to the severity of her condition, she was soon airlifted to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee for more specialized treatment. Medical personnel determined that she had suffered a "very large bruise" on her forehead, had a glucose level of 24, a temperature of 100.6, was hypothermic, and was suffering from multiple bedsores. She was diagnosed with "severe malnourishment" and doctors said they were highly concerned that she could suffer catastrophic organ failure within 72 hours.
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Doctors also noted that there were no medical records for the victim from the last five years, which is about the time her mother went to jail and she began living with her father, stepmother, and adult stepsister.
Goodman told authorities his daughter had been sick and "just throwing up" for about the last six days, but said he had not sought medical assistance, calling her condition "normal kid stuff." He explained that the victim's mother was diabetic, and while the victim had never been tested for the disease, he thought her sugar might be low.
"So I gave her a little bit of Wild Cherry Pepsi," Goodman told police.
During the initial investigation, Goodman told police he put a camera in his daughter's bedroom "because she self-harms" and "picks at herself." He also said he had installed an alarm on the victim's door because she did not sleep, claiming she would "stay awake for 1 to 3 weeks at a time." Goodman also blamed his daughter severe weight loss on her lack of sleeping, not a lack of eating.
However, when police interviewed one of Goodman's friends, he recalled a time in August when he was at the home fixing a four-wheeler and the victim came out and asked him about what he was doing. The friend said this "irritated" Goodman, who told her to keep quiet before allegedly making several disturbing comments. From the affidavit:
He heard [Goodman] make comments like, "If she misbehaves, I' m not going to feed her today." [The friend] said he told [Goodman] that he can't do that, and [Goodman] said, "Well I keep her locked up in her bedroom with a camera on her, and that's where she stays." [The friend] said he told [Goodman] that he can't lock a kid in a bedroom, that was abuse. [The friend] indicated that at times when [Goodman] brought [the victim] to his house, [Goodman] would tell [the victim] to "Shut the f— up," and "Sit there and don't say nothing."
When the friend confronted Goodman about how he treats his daughter, the friend claimed Goodman went on a diatribe about the child, saying, "If I could leave her somewhere in the woods, I'd leave her." The friend also recalled Goodman telling the girl, "I wish I could kill you."
Police also spoke to the victim's teacher from 2019 to 2020, who allegedly said she remembered the victim being "friendly and talkative" and could not recall anything about her being autistic or enrolled in any special education programs. Rather, the teacher said the victim had been "a healthy normal third-grade student, who interacted appropriately with her peers and staff."
Authorities say LeFever and Stemler would often look after the victim when Goodman and his wife were out of town so another child in their care could get cancer treatment. During those times, police said LeFever and Stemler continued to abuse and neglect the victim.
During a Tuesday court hearing, Outagamie County Assistant District Attorney Julie DuQuaine said it was "the most egregious case of child neglect I think I have ever seen in my nearly 25-year career," according to a report from Green Bay Fox affiliate WLUK. The prosecutors said the victim was "very, very close to death — 35 pounds at 14 years old," when first responders found her.
Outagamie County Court Commissioner Brian Figy, who presided over the hearing, reportedly called the allegations "incredibly disturbing."
"It's alleged that the minor child was frankly living in a house of horrors," he said.
Figy set Goodman and Stemler's bond at $150,000 and LeFever's bond at $100,000, all cash-only. It was not immediately clear when they were scheduled to return to court.
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