Authorities in Wisconsin have charged four adults after rescuers found a 14-year-old girl grossly undernourished in their house.
Prosecutors said the girl weighed only 35 pounds (15.88 kilograms) inside her family’s Oneida home.
They deemed the teen had been severely neglected and kept isolated for years before her father called 911 in August.
Highlights
- A 14-year-old Wisconsin girl was found severely malnourished, weighing only 35 pounds, after years of neglect and isolation.
- Authorities charged four adults, including her father and stepmother, with felony counts of chronic child neglect causing great bodily and emotional harm.
- Hospital doctors diagnosed the teen with multiple organ dysfunctions and severe malnutrition; she showed eagerness for food once rescued.
Wisconsin authorities rescued a 14-year-old girl who weighed only 35 pounds
Image credits: Outagamie County
According to court records, 47-year-old Walter Goodman contacted emergency dispatchers on August 21, reporting that his daughter had become extremely weak and “comatose” after not eating for days.
He claimed she was “autistic” and had refused to eat.
When officers arrived, they thought she was no older than six or seven years old due to her size.
Medical teams rushed her to a hospital, finding her to be close to death.
Image credits: WLUK
At the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with multiple organ dysfunctions, cardiac dysfunction, pancreatitis, severe hepatitis, and severe malnutrition, among other complications, according to court documents obtained by Fox 11 News.
Outagamie County Assistant District Attorney Julie DuQuaine said about the girl, “She looked like a skeleton. She was just literally skin and bones at 35 pounds.”
Along with the father, authorities arrested the father’s wife and the girl’s step-mom, Melissa Goodman, his wife’s daughter, Savanna Lefever, 29, and Lefever’s partner, Kayla Stemler, 27.
They were detained on three felony counts of chronic neglect of a child, with the consequence being great bodily harm, and two felony counts of chronic neglect of a child, with the consequence being emotional damage, according to charging documents viewed by People.
Image credits: Outagamie County Courts
The charges carry a potential sentence of more than 80 years in prison for each of them.
Investigators say evidence contradicts Goodman’s explanation that the teen refused to eat.
At the hospital, the teen requested a second portion of food. Upon receiving the food, she told medical personnel that her father would “be so mad” and that he “doesn’t like when I eat that much.”
Hospital staff alleged that her “eyes lit up” when she was told that she would receive three meals a day while hospitalized.
The teen had been living with her father since 2020 after her mother went to jail. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she attended school virtually, and the next year, her father said she was being homeschooled, per the criminal complaint.
Her father would allegedly ‘be so mad’ if the girl asked for more food
Image credits: Outagamie County Courts/Zoom
“She was neglected for a number of years,” DuQuaine said. “She has not gone to the doctor since September 2020. She has not been in school since COVID.”
Authorities also said Walter told them he monitored and communicated with the girl via a webcam in her room, where she was allegedly locked most of the time.
A witness told local television station WISN that Walter had said, “Well, I keep her locked up in her bedroom with a camera on her, and that’s where she stays.”
Image credits: Oneida Police Department of Wisconsin/Facebook
Authorities quoted a friend saying that he confronted Walter about how he treated his daughter. Walter allegedly said, “If I could leave her somewhere in the woods, I’d leave her.”
The complaint also said that Walter told his daughter, “I wish I could kill you.”
Investigators submitted messages between the family as evidence. In one message, Stemler wrote to her girlfriend’s mother, “Just so you know [the girl] was taking more than one bite at a time and when Savanna confronted her, she continued to argue with her, so I used the belt.”
Image credits: Outagamie County Courts/Zoom
The mother responded, “Fine.”
At another occasion, the girl’s stepmother wrote, “Wish she’d just go away,” to which Lafever responded, “Just want to karate kick her dumb head.”
“This is the most egregious case of child neglect I think I have ever seen in my nearly 25-year career,” DuQuaine said.
The accused face more than 80 years in prison
Image credits: Outagamie County Courts/Zoom
Bail for Walter, Melissa, and Stemler was set at $150,000, while Lefever’s bail was set at $100,000.
The girl has grown 3 inches and doubled her body weight since she was rescued.
Authorities urge anyone who suspects child abuse to contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.