OUTAGAMIE COUNTY (NBC 26) — A second co-defendant in a child abuse case in Outagamie County was convicted Thursday after a plea deal was reached.
Kayla Stemler, 28, was at the Outagamie County courthouse Thursday afternoon for a plea hearing, where she entered no contest pleas to the counts of chronic neglect of a child causing great bodily harm, chronic neglect of a child causing emotional damage and false imprisonment as part of a plea deal.
Judge Vincent Biskupic accepted Stemler's pleas, finding her guilty of all three counts. She faces up to 46 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 24.
Stemler originally faced five felony charges, like the three co-defendants in the case — Walter Goodman, Melissa Goodman and Savanna LeFever.
Goodman, the victim's stepmother, was convicted Wednesday after a similar plea deal was reached.
No trial date has been set for Walter Goodman, the father of the victim. However, a pretrial conference is scheduled for May 28. Meanwhile, LeFever has a pretrial conference in June but no trial date set, according to court records.
Charges stem from the case of a severely malnourished 14-year-old girl who was hospitalized last August, weighing just 35 pounds and suffering from organ failure. Investigators say the girl was locked in a room in Oneida and denied care for years before she was found.
