OUTAGAMIE COUNTY (NBC 26) — One of the four defendants in a shocking child abuse case in Outagamie County pleaded no contest and was convicted of three charges Wednesday.
Melissa Goodman, 51, was found guilty of two counts of chronic neglect of a child and one count of false imprisonment after a plea deal was reached.
Goodman was originally facing five felony charges of chronic neglect of a child. With the deal, she could still get up to 46 years in prison.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for July 1.
There are three other defendants in this case: Walter Goodman, Kayla Stemler and Savanna LeFever. No trial date has been set for Walter Goodman. However, a pretrial conference is scheduled for May 28.
Stemler’s jury trial is scheduled to begin August 17, but a plea hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
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.
