MADDIE SOTO'S MOM FEARED 'WOODY ALLEN' SITUATION, MOM'S BF 'MADDIE STARTED IT'
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.2 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
The man accused of molesting and killing Madeline Soto shortly after her 13th birthday will stand trial next fall.
Stephan Sterns, the boyfriend of Madeline’s mother, Jennifer Soto, faces charges of first-degree murder and 60 other offenses, including sexual battery, molestation, and possession of child pornography. Sterns has not attended court in months, choosing to skip pretrial hearings. In phone calls with his parents, Sterns claimed he "didn't start" the situation he is now facing. Jennifer Soto told police she had always feared a "Woody Allen situation."
Sterns' trial is set to begin on September 22, 2025.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Philip Dubé – Court-Appointed Counsel, Los Angeles County Public Defenders: Criminal & Constitutional Law; Forensics & Mental Health Advocacy
- Dr. Jorey Krawczyn – Police Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty with Saint Leo University; Research Consultant with Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S. – Practical Recommendations to Help “Stop Officer Suicide”
- Robin Dreeke – Behavior Expert & Retired FBI Special Agent / Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program; Author: “Sizing People Up: A Veteran FBI Agents Manual for Behavior Prediction;” X: @rdreekeke
- Anna Sonoda – Child Grooming Expert, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Author: “Duck Duck Groom: Understanding How a Child Becomes a Target”
- Dr. Eric Eason – Board-certified Forensic Pathologist, Consultant; Instagram: @eric_a_eason, Facebook: Eric August Eason, LinkedIn: Eric Eason, MD
- Shannon Butler – Investigative Reporter WFTV-9
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. |
| 0:02.0 | Murdered Maddie Soto's mom says she feared a Woody Allen situation. |
| 0:11.0 | Really? Yet she continued to allow her than 12 year old little girl |
| 0:17.0 | to sleep every night in the bed alone with mommy's boyfriend? |
| 0:23.4 | This as on secretly recorded jailhouse calls, we hear Mommy's boyfriend turn |
| 0:29.6 | murder suspect state, Maddie started it. |
| 0:34.3 | I'm Nancy Grace. |
| 0:35.3 | This is crime stories. |
| 0:36.9 | Thank you for being with us. |
| 0:40.0 | So you're saying, presumably her school computer was in her backpack. |
| 0:45.9 | Well, I can confidently tell you she did not go to school with her backpack. |
| 0:50.9 | Because we found in the trash. |
| 0:56.7 | Yeah, that's mom's living boyfriend, Stefan Stearns, trying to describe, explain why |
| 1:03.0 | Maddie's backpack was found in the trash, talking about that she went into school the |
| 1:09.0 | whole time. |
| 1:09.5 | He knows why her backpack is in the trash |
| 1:11.7 | according to prosecutors because he put it there trying to hide evidence. But in the most recent |
| 1:16.6 | and bizarre, turn of events, murdered Maddie Soto's mother, let this sink in, who has gotten immunity, says she feared a Woody Allen type situation. |
| 1:35.3 | Listen. |
| 1:36.3 | I've always told him that my biggest fear is that this would turn into a Woody Allen situation where the stepdaughter |
| 1:43.3 | fall or the dad grooms the child and the child |
| 1:46.5 | turns 18 and he's up running away with him. I told him like that was my biggest fear and I don't |
... |
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