Teen Girl Found Locked Up, Starved for Years: Police

These allegations before the court today. are incredibly disturbing. and it's alleged that the minor child. was quite frankly living in a house of. horrors. >> A 14-year-old girl weighing just 35 lbs. found barely alive inside what police. call a house of horrors in Wisconsin is. the story [music] we're talking about. We are learning shocking new details. about the alleged years of starvation, confinement, and cruelty that. authorities [music] say nearly killed. this girl. Three adults are now facing.

felony neglect charges and a possible. fourth person [music] could be charged. as well. We are going to break it all. down with a former prosecutor right now. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law on. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Real quick, you know why we can cover a. story like this in depth? It's because. of our sponsor Morgan and Morgan. I'm. talking America's largest personal. injury law firm. I'm talking a firm with. over a thousand attorneys who have. recovered $25 billion for more than. 500,000 clients. In fact, in the past.

few months alone, a client in Florida. received $12 million when insurance. offered just $350,000. In Pennsylvania, another client was awarded $26 million. That is 40 times the insurers's offer. And Morgan and Morgan, they make it easy. to fight for what you deserve. You can. even start a claim from your phone. So, if you're injured, you can start a claim. at forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. You can click the link below or you can. scan the QR code on screen. We are following a case out of Wisconsin. that is so disturbing that a prosecutor.

involved is calling this the most. egregious case of child neglect she has. ever seen. A 14-year-old girl 14 on the. brink of death weighing just 35 pounds. That is what police say they found in a. home in Onida, leading to shocking child. neglect charges against her own father, Walter Goodman, and two other adults. And now, police are saying a possible. fourth suspect may soon face charges. This situation was so dire that the.

court commissioner described the home. not as a house, but as something far. worse. These allegations before the. court today are incredibly disturbing. and it's alleged that the minor child. was quite frankly living in a house of. horrors. >> And within that supposed house of. horrors, the criminal complaint reveals. a detail that is just bone chilling. It. wasn't just the allegations of. starvation or that she was locked in her. room. It was her reaction to food in the. hospital that makes this just incredibly.

heartbreaking. According to the. complaint, when a nurse explained to. this girl that she would get three meals. a day and, you know, a whole list of. food she could finally eat, her eyes lit. up. And then authorities say she said. this, "My dad will be so mad. He doesn't. like when I eat this much." Let's. rewind. Let's talk about it. Let's walk. through exactly how this situation. unfolded because the details are. incredibly staggering and disturbing. But this all started back in the spring. of 2020 when a young girl, we're going.

to be calling her MJG to protect her. identity, moved in with her biological. father, Walter Goodman, in this trailer. And she's about 9 years old at the time. She is joining a household that includes. Walter's wife, Melissa, Melissa's. daughter, Savannah Lever, and her. 15-year-old son, and Savannah's partner, Kayla Steinmer. Now, according to the. criminal complaint, things began to. change dramatically after Kayla moved. into that home in August of 2021. That. is when MJG's world seems to have shrunk.

down to the size of a single room. Police say she was forced to live almost. exclusively in her bedroom, which was. monitored by a camera that her father. had installed. And this wasn't just a. precaution. Investigators alleged that. her door was locked from the outside. with a barrelbolt. They even found the. lock and noted the screw holes matched. up perfectly with the door and frame. And for years, investigators claim this. was her life. Police and child welfare. officials say that she was let out only. a few times a day under strict.

supervision, often just to use the. bathroom. And when the adults in the. house would leave, they would allegedly. leave MJG locked in that room in the. care of others. So, I want to talk about. that condition. I want to talk about her. condition. Over the years, investigators. claim that she became severely, horrifically thin. In fact, an officer. observed how she appeared to be 6 to 8. years old. That's what they thought. But. she wasn't a young child. She was a. teenager and her body was literally. shutting down from an apparent lack of.

food. That's the allegation. This all. came to a head on August 21st of this. year. That is when Walter Goodman. finally called 911. And on that call, which is included in the complaint, he. apparently tells the dispatcher that his. daughter is quote lethargic, like she's. comeomaosse, and that her eyes are open, but quote creepy. He mentions that she's. grinding her teeth and stiffening up in. his arms. And when first responders. arrived, they said that she was so. emaciated, her collar bones, her ribs, her hipbones, they were poking through. her skin. Her blood sugar was at a.

life-threatening low level of 24. She. was rushed to the hospital, then flown. to Children's, Wisconsin, where she was. immediately intubated. And a prosecutor. said she was, and I quote this, very, very close to death. She weighed, again, just 35 lbs. You know, a typical. 14-year-old girl weighs more than what, triple that. She was diagnosed with. severe malnutrition. It had caused. multiple organ failures. Her liver, her. pancreas, her heart, they were all. affected. She had osteoporosis like an. elderly person. She had pressure sores.

from lying on the floor. This is all in. the report. This is all alleged in the. reports this week. These three adults. arrested in this case, Walter Goodman, Savannah Lefever, Kayla Steimey, they. faced a judge and the charges are. severe. We're talking multiple felony. counts of chronic neglect of a child. Consequence is great bodily harm. So the. question is what exactly did police. uncover in this investigation? What was. said in that courtroom? I want to dive. into all of this and I want to bring. back on to the show friend of the show,

practice professor of law, former child. abuse and sex crimes prosecutor Marian. Bracha. Thank you so much for taking the. time. Before I even get your. perspective, your reaction to all of. this, let me just play something real. quick. Okay, this week these three. adults at the center of this case faced. a judge for the first time. Walter. Goodman, Savannah Lef Fever, Kayla. Steimey. They're each facing five felony. counts of chronic neglect of a child. And the charges specify that the. consequence was great bodily harm and.

emotional damage. Goodman, so the girl's. father being held on $150,000 cash bond. Levver, the stepsister, also being held. on $150,000 cash bond. Steey, Levver's. partner, lower bond, still significant, $100,000 cash. In that courtroom, okay, the prosecutor and the court. commissioner, they laid out just the. gravity of this situation. In fact, here's some of what was said per Fox 11. News. These allegations before the court. today are incredibly disturbing. and it's alleged that the minor child.

was quite frankly living in a house of. horrors. >> The last time she saw a medical provider. was approximately 5 years before this. incident came to light. She was uh very. very close to death. Again, 39 pounds or. 35 lbs at 14 years old. This is the most. um egregious case of child neglect um I. think I have ever personally seen in my. nearly 25 year career.

>> Professor, that's a statement. That's a. statement to make, right? The the worst. case of child neglect they they they've. seen in 25 years. I mean, from your. perspective, what do you take away from. this? Because for me, if the allegations. are true, it's the amount of time, the. prolonged episodes, the blatant uh uh. allegations here, that's the part that. stands out to me. >> Yeah. And and uh the fact that a tenur.

veteran prosecutor would say that this. is uh one of, if not the worst case of. child neglect that she's ever seen, um I. think is very telling. prosecutors, all. advocates are trained to not be. hyperbolic in their language, to to not. exaggerate just for the sake of effect. Uh, and so for for this prosecutor to. have um measured this case against all. the others uh that they prosecuted, that. that is a very um telling distinction. between her body of work and and what.

we're considering here. Before we go any further into this, if. these allegations are true, does it. shock you that this was going on, allegedly going on for such a prolonged. period of time and nothing stopped it? No one stepped in? I mean, we'll get a. little bit more into the specifics, but. you and I cover these cases all the. time, and I think that's a fair question. to ask. >> Yeah. And and you know what, Jesse, we've we've talked about this before. I. think that um it happens far more often. than we'd like to admit or far more.

often than um we'd like to think about. that uh children who perhaps are not in. the conventional uh schoolhouse going. through the school day with with. teachers, with school administrators, with school health personnel, uh they. really are at risk of slipping between. the cracks. And when these horrible. things are either happening to them or. their very basic needs are not being. met, that is not something um that is. that is on our societal radar and it. really should be.

>> So to truly understand the severity of. this case, we got to do a deep dive into. the criminal complaint. And the details. that are documented by investigators, they are extensive. They paint a picture. of alleged systemic and prolonged abuse. Okay, I want to start with the. conditions inside of that home. According to the complaint, MJG's life. was one of almost total confinement. The. complaint states, quote, "When both. Walker and Melissa, again, the wife, would both leave the house at the same.

time, Savannah and Kayla would be left. responsible for MJG's care." And. investigators even discovered that there. was a barrel bolt lock being used to. lock the door. Now you, professor, we. were talking about it right before we. came on from a legal standpoint. You. have multiple adults that are accused. of, you know, participating in this. maybe this confinement, this neglect, but there I do wonder if they're varying. roles. I do wonder if you have multiple. people being charged essentially with. the same crime. Does that complicate it.

for prosecutors or strengthen their. case? Well, I I think that it it really goes. to to um to show what the arrangement. was and what the agreement was between. the adults in this household. Um it. wasn't that, you know, the stepdaughter. was being left unaware uh in the care of. or or excuse me, in in the in in. supervision of this child who had. special needs. if there was um a an an. arrangement even even as casual or.

informal as it can as it can be. something like you know will you keep an. eye on her while I run to the store um. if she if the if the stepdaughter and. her partner assumed that responsibility. or acquiesced to that responsibility. then they they were in charge of her uh. care and well-being and her safety and. for them to have neglected it I I think. the prosecutor will argue goes to prove. one of the elements ments of the charges. they're facing. >> Do you see one blaming the other?

>> Absolutely. Yeah. I I think that um it. is predictable that um if the uh if if. the stepmother if Melissa is charged um. that she will in all likelihood blame. the father or point a finger at the. father. I think certainly the. stepdaughter and her partner will say we. had no parental responsibility. We had. no caretaking role in this child's life. So, we had no idea what her condition. was or what needed to be done for her. Of course, I'm sure we'll discuss. there's ample electronic evidence that I.

will likely be used to dispute that. Um, but yes, I I can foresee a situation. where there's lots of fingerpointing at. each other. >> By the way, these charges, these felony. counts of chrono chronic neglect of a. child, you have the added language of. great bodily harm, emotional damage, they feel quite broad. they feel like. they can encompass a range of conduct. here um as opposed to other kind of. charges we see in cases like this. Um. can you explain what prosecutors would. need to prove here? Is this kind of Am I.

right? It's kind of a broader charge. that can encompass a lot and may be. easier for prosecutors to secure a. conviction. >> Yeah, I I think you're absolutely right. It is it is very broad language. Uh and. I I think that that was in intentionally. designed by the state legislature. There's certainly public policy reasons. behind wanting to protect children and. making the neglect of children as broad. an offense as possible to serve as. either a deterrent or to give. prosecutors greater leeway to prosecute.

with various types of evidence. I think. in this case the the mere medical. evidence physical condition of this. child will go to support the elements of. the great bodily harm charge. And I. think in all likelihood they would need. the testimony of the hospital personnel. and perhaps social service personnel and. and first responders to describe the. emotional responses and and the the. aspect of the child when she was. discovered and when she was being cared. for in the hospital. I think that will. likely um go to support some of the.

emotional harm charges. >> General question and and I want to be. very clear about this. Okay, I'm not. making excuses. I want to be clear. I'm. not making excuses. But what is the. legal line between. bad parenting and a crime? What do I. mean by that? If you have situations. where, for example, they didn't take her. to a doctor for years. And let's say you. have a parent or parents or caregivers. who like, we're just so busy. We didn't. have the resources to get her to the. doctor. You know, we're doing the best. that we can. We're not deliberately not.

feeding her. Maybe we don't have money. for food or we can't feed as regularly. We're working these jobs. I'm not saying. this case. This is there the allegations. are quite egregious. But from a legal. point of view, has a do prosecutors look. in and say, I you know, they're bad. parents. They should have gotten help. They could have gotten help, but I don't. think that this rises to a crime. necessarily. What is the legal line? >> Yeah. Well, I think every case it has to. be looked at independently, right? There. there is no cookie cutter case. There is.

no um bright line rule to say, you know, this is what's criminal and this is just. what's what what's bad parenting, what. is um uh uh not perhaps not well. prepared for this life of parenthood. So. every single case will depend on the. totality of circumstances. Of course, um. I I think that um the the state. legislature here was also very. intentional in drafting the language of. the statute because there is an. exception for poverty, right? a failure. to to meet the needs of the child or or.

to neglect the care of the child for. reasons other than poverty. So this. state legislature was very um. conscientious in making sure that um. parents who who because of a lack of. resources couldn't provide or were. struggling to provide for their children. wouldn't be or couldn't be prosecuted. In this particular case, I I think that. um this goes beyond crimes of omission, just, you know, oh, I was too busy to to. keep up with the well appointments or I.

was too busy to attend to, you know, this need on a regular basis. If we're. looking at a course of conduct, if we're. looking at a period of at least 5 years. where a teenager was wasting away to. 30ome pounds, that is something that. goes beyond the realm of I was just too. busy. this is something that any. reasonable person in the care of a child. would be able to say something isn't. right here. Um and and that kind of. breaking that pause should have happened. before certainly well before a 5year.

mark. >> Before we get into the text messages. which I think separates this case from. other cases just let me leave it there. High bond I mean $150,000 $100,000 your. reaction to those? it. Again, you're right. It is highbond. Um I don't know um the um any of the. three charged defendants criminal. history. I don't know what other. contacts they've had with the system. I. don't know if they have prior failures.

to appear in court or failures to um or. excuse me or or any prior um absconding. Um ordinarily the intention of bail is. to ensure a defendant's presence and. participation in the proceedings. Um. there is I think a a philosophy behind. uh bail not being punitive. Um but there. is also uh the concern for this child's. safety. I think that that um the. magistrate who set the bail would have. been thinking about this child not being.

contacted by her caregivers, not being. intimidated by her caregivers, not being. exposed to further harm by her. caregivers. So I think that's probably. factored into the bail decision, but. ultimately bail is to ensure a. defendant's presence. >> Now you are the master of evidence. Okay, we always talk about evidence. here. Okay, text messages can be some of. the most damning incriminating pieces of. evidence against defendants because even. though we live in an AI world, the. ability to say, "I was totally. generated. I didn't write this. Someone.

else had." At the end of the day, very. very difficult for a defendant to argue. that those texts messages weren't sent. by their clients. Then the the question. becomes, what's the context of it? Let's. keep that in mind when we talk about. context cuz you do wonder, does this. look, you know, pretty cut and dry? This. complaint contains shocking evidence. from the family's text messages or. messages I should say. So, in one. exchange, Melissa Goodman texts, "Can. you please make sure the door is locked. and so is stupids, please?" Now, the.

alleged dehumanization extended even. further in a Facebook group chat where. Kayla wrote, "Sassy has peed on MJG. twice now, LMAO." To which Walter and. Melissa reportedly responded, "Lmao.". And the control, police say, was. absolute down to the most basic. necessities. messages show that water. was used as a tool for punishment with. one message stating, "Because last night. I took her water away and then he took. her to the bathroom and let her drink.

it." In another, "While caring for MJG,". Kayla apparently writes, "Just so you. know, MJG was taking more than one bite. at a time. And when Savannah confronted. her, she continued to argue with her, so. I used the belt." This is to which. Melissa Goodman replied, "That's fine.". And Savannah apparently messages, "I'm. scared we're all gonna go to jail or. something. I am just scared because of. how horrible she looks." And just to be. clear before we go any further, Melissa.

Goodman, as of now, has not been charged. in this case, although that could change. very soon. We're going to talk about. that a little bit more later. Professor, how devastating is this to their cases? Uh well, all of these statements, if. they can be attributed to each of these. defendants, would be admissible by the. prosecution as party admissions. So, the. prosecution can admit these defendants. statements. They were non-custodial. This isn't something that would be.

subject to the Miranda warnings that we. see on TV like you have the right to. remain silent. These were not um. responses that were being given to. police interrogation. And these were. private conversations and so they would. be uh with proper authentication they. would be admissible uh against the. defendant in the prosecution's case and. chief and that is a really powerful tool. for the prosecutor to have because once. we get to trial um as we all know of.

course the constitutional rights are. there that the constitutional rights. will always and do always protect the. defendant. So they have a right to. maintain their silence. they have a. right to not testify um uh and and to. incriminate themselves. However, this is. a really powerful tool for the. prosecutor to be able to admit their. words without forcing the defendants to. take this stand which of course would be. unconstitutional and not allowed by our. system. Um so the these words of the. defendants again if they can be. authenticated if they can be attributed.

back to um their accounts to their. devices to their phones if if there can. be a more likely than not showing that. these communications were made by each. of the people who've been charged. Um. this this is as as you point out very. damning evidence of their knowledge and. their intent to cause this child harm. And I didn't even get into these. messages that you can argue, I would. assume, and I'll get your perspective on. it, show a conscious effort to, you. know, hide her condition. So, consciousness of guilt in a way, right?

The complaint states that uh they told. this girl's grandmother that she was. quote on a trip with his cousin. This is. when apparently the grandmother asked to. see her. And then you have this message. where Savannah reportedly writes, "I. wish she didn't look so awful so she. could just go to the doctor and get a. feeding tube with that high calorie. stuff." Now, the medical findings in the. complaint are maybe the most. gut-wrenching. And they directly. contradict the story that her father, Walter Goodman, initially told police. because they say he claimed that her.

weight loss was because she quote, "Just. don't eat. This was due to autism." and. that she would stay awake for one to. three weeks at a time burning all these. calories. But the medical report in the. complaint states that her presentation. was consistent with quote severe and. prolonged malnutrition likely years. So. not days or weeks, years. And maybe most. tellingly, a nurse documented that when. told that she would get three meals a. day, MJG's eyes quote lit up and she.

started listing off all the options of. food she could have. and she stated, "My. dad will be so mad. He doesn't like when. I eat this much." Now, professor, when I. look at those messages, and I'm looking. at this other evidence, the physical. evidence that's been presented, the. alleged statements from the victim here, the messages are corroborated, are. supported by everything else. >> And I I think you you hit the nail on. the head when you said consciousness of. guilt. I mean, how many times um can.

there be uh an expression of fear or an. expression of apprehension? I don't want. to take her to the doctor. I don't want. other family members to see her. Um that. that shows their knowledge or or the. prosecutors will argue that that is. proof of their knowledge of their. wrongdoing. Um and there are specific. jury instructions related to that that. the factf finder can take into. consideration their actions attendant to. their actual commission. they can take. into consideration things they were. doing under the circumstances to hide.

her condition and to hide whatever. involvement they had in um bringing her. to that to that circumstance. >> Does she have to testify? Does MJG. prosecutors need her to testify? Would. they require her to testify? Um how does. that work exactly? I cannot imagine a. world in which this child would be. called to testify. Um, not only would. there be competency challenges if she is.

on um the autism spectrum, if she isn't, and that's certainly not to say that. that anyone with ASD um is an. incompetent witness. That is not at all. what I'm saying. Um there is evidence. that there were periods of u. non-verbality that that she was. non-verbal at least for periods of time. Um, but I think the prosecutors would be. cognizant of the fact that putting this. child in the spotlight on the stand in. front of the people who um so abused and.

neglected her would would compound the. trauma of what she's already. experienced. And looking at this case. objectively, I think that there is. likely sufficient evidence to proceed. with um observations of again the first. responders, the hospital staff, the. medical records to show her condition, uh the text messages to show the. communication between the defendants. Uh. I I cannot imagine a circumstance where. this child's testimony would be.

necessary to meeting um the elements of. the crimes charged. Now, we've mentioned uh Melissa Goodman. several times here, and she's Walter's. wife. She was present in the home. throughout this entire alleged ordeal. And while we've heard her voice, read it. in those messages, she has until now. been the one adult in that house who's. not facing criminal charges. Although, I. will tell you, reportedly that's about. to change. According to a report from. Fox 11 News, the local police chief has. now confirmed that charges are expected.

against this fourth suspect, Melissa. She's currently in custody. At the time. of this recording though, we don't have. any information from a docket showing. any charges. But essentially, this means. that all four adults who lived in that. trailer, Walter Goodman, his wife. Melissa, the daughter Savannah, Savannah's partner Kayla, they are. expected to face justice according to. these prosecutors and if these. allegations are true. Now, Professor, back to you. What does it signify that. prosecutors may be moving forward to now. charge the fourth suspect here?

I I I think it it shows that they are um. proceeding on on everyone that could. have had a hand uh in this in this. child's horrible neglect and abuse. And. I don't think that they are leaving. anything to chance, risking any of these. defendants testifying on behalf of any. of the others. I I think that once. Melissa Goodman is charged, there are. certainly some considerations for. marital privilege that will that will. come into play whether or not the father.

and stepmother can take the stand and. testify against each other. There there. is another evidentiary quandry there. But I don't think that prosecutors are. interested in leaving any tees uncrossed. or eyes undotted. I think anyone in that. house who prosecutors are alleging was. responsible uh for um MJD's care and. then neglected that care is is going to. be called to justice. >> Yeah, what a case. Uh Professor Marian. Brocher, thank you so much for taking. the time. Good to see you.

>> Thank you. Good to see you, Jesse. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. You can follow me on. X or Instagram. [music]. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next. time.