New court dates set in trial of man accused of sexually assaulting, killing Kissimmee teen Madeline Soto
For the first time, Stephan Sterns, the man prosecutors have charged with sexually assaulting and murdering 13-year-old Kissimmee teen Madeline Soto, made an in-person court appearance Monday.
Sterns, with a neatly-trimmed beard and haircut, did not speak during his brief appearance at Monday's status hearing for his trials. He entered the courtroom shortly before the 10-minute hearing, and was led out immediately after it concluded.
Aside from the murder, the state has charged him with 60 counts of sexual battery, lewd and lascivious molestation and possession of child sex abuse material, charges filed by the State Attorney’s office after searching his phone and Google drive after Soto was reported missing back on Feb. 26.
The State Attorney has filed to seek the death penalty against Sterns, who remains in the Osceola County Jail.
It appears that these are wheels of justice moving slowly. Assistant State Attorney Danielle Pinnell noted no depositions have been done, or been scheduled, among the many witnesses in what are now separate cases. She said the murder case has many more witnesses.
Public defender Beth Bourdon, surrounded by a defense team of three other attorneys, told Judge Keith Carsten that she is currently on another death penalty case and has two others on her docket. She asked that the case be scheduled for 2027, but Carsten said that would, "Test the bounds of what is reasonable."
Carsten then set new pretrial hearings for Sterns' cases, noting the case with the 60 counts has fewer hurdles standing in the way. He tentatively scheduled that case for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday Feb. 12, 2025, and for a trial docket of Feb. 24 to March 14. He set a pre-trial hearing, with discovery and deposition update deadlines, of Sept. 10, 2025 and a trial period to start Sept. 22.
