OUTAGAMIE COUNTY (NBC 26) — A competency exam has been ordered for one of the defendants in an Outagamie County child abuse case.
Walter Goodman, 47, appeared in court Thursday after his defense filed a motion for a competency evaluation — an exam used to determine whether a defendant has the mental capacity to understand legal proceedings in their case.
The state had no position on the motion.
Outagamie County Judge Yadira Rein ordered the exam and scheduled a review hearing for July 7 to discuss the matter further.
Goodman’s charges stem from the hospitalization last August of a severely malnourished 14-year-old girl in Oneida. Authorities said she weighed just 35 pounds, suffered from organ failure, was locked in a room and denied care for years.
Melissa Goodman, Savanna LeFever and Kayla Stemler were also charged in connection with the case. Goodman and Stemler were convicted earlier in May after reaching plea deals. LeFever has a pretrial conference scheduled for June 17.
