Stephan Sterns' sex crimes trial pushed back to July after indecision on evidence
Stephan Sterns' sex crimes trial now set for July
Stephan Sterns claims sexual abuse evidence should be thrown out of his trial because he claims to have not given officials permission to search his phone. A judge will issue a written ruling and any other motions by June 30. The trial has been reset until July. FOX 35's Randi Hildreth has the latest from the courthouse.
ORLANDO, Fla. - A judge ruled on Wednesday to push back the sex crimes trial for Stephan Sterns to July, as he is still trying to determine what evidence will and will not be applicable. Sterns is accused of killing and sexually abusing 13-year-old Madeline Soto.
Latest updates in the case
What we know:
The judge's ruling was made at a suppression hearing Wednesday at the Osceola County courthouse.
Although Sterns and his defense team were hoping to delay the suppression hearing, saying they needed more time to review "confidential information," the request was denied at an additional hearing on Tuesday. No details have been provided by Sterns' attorney regarding the confidential information.
The hearing on Wednesday focused on whether evidence from Sterns' phone and Google account was lawfully obtained in the case.
‘Law enforcement has consistently overstepped’
What they're saying:
At the hearing, both state prosecutors and Sterns' legal team agreed that investigators got information from his phone without a search warrant.
The state says investigators were right to take Sterns' phone and go through it. They argued that detectives were concerned that Sterns was allegedly getting rid of evidence. Investigators say that pictures and videos were eventually found on Sterns' phone that allegedly showed he had been abusing Soto for years.
The defense says that Sterns only originally gave investigators official consent to look at certain apps and argued that law enforcement pushed boundaries, even calling on Sterns to testify.
"I consented only to them looking at the Google Maps and to see if I was logged into Google in the first place,"Sterns said.
The team is hoping the judge will consider tossing the evidence from the sex crimes trial.
"Law enforcement has consistently overstepped bounds, knew that they didn't have enough for a warrant to get into his phone at first, sought a way to get around that and kept going until they can get to it," one of the attorneys on Sterns' team said.
What's next:
The judge is expected to next issue a written ruling about what evidence collected from Sterns' phone can or cannot be used.
The decision is anticipated to come before June 30.
More stories:
- Watch: Stephan Sterns 2-hour interrogation amid Madeline Soto disappearance
- Madeline Soto update: Will the media, public be banned from Stephan Sterns' pretrial court hearings?
- Maddie Soto update: Stephen Sterns jailhouse calls released
- Judge denies Stephan Sterns' motion to ban the press, public from his pre-trial hearings
Who is Stephan Sterns?
Sterns was the boyfriend of Jennifer Soto, Madeline's mother.
According to court documents and law enforcement, Sterns lived with Jennifer, Madeline and another roommate on and off. He would sometimes take Madeline to school and would also sometimes sleep in the same bed as Madeline and Jennifer, court records said.
In Feb. 2024, he reportedly took Madeline to school while the girl's mother stayed back at the house. Hours later when Madeline's mom went to pick her up from school, she was told Madeline never made it to school that day.
Stephan Sterns was arrested and booked into the Orange County jail on charges of sexual battery and possession of child sexual abuse material after detectives found "disturbing" images on his phone, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
Sterns is charged with first-degree murder in the death of the girl. He is also charged in a separate case with some 60 counts of sexual abuse and possession of child sexual abuse material after thousands of graphic photos, some including Maddie, were found on his cell phone and saved to a Google Drive account, court records said.
He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
His trial on the first-degree murder charge is currently scheduled to begin on Sept. 22, 2025.
Who was Maddie Soto?
Madeline "Maddie" Soto was a 13-year-old girl who was reported missing on Feb. 26, 2024. Maddie had just celebrated her 13th birthday on February 22, days before she was reported missing.
Madeline was a student at Hunter's Creek Middle School in Orlando. She lived with her mom, Sterns and an adult roommate in Kissimmee.
Her body was found in a grassy area in Osceola County on March 1.
Timeline:
2024:
- Sunday, Feb. 25: Madeline Soto's 13th birthday celebration
- Monday, Feb. 26: Madeline Soto was last seen at 8:30 a.m., didn't make it to school
- Tuesday, Feb. 27: Madeline Soto's missing poster was released, officials begin search
- Tuesday night, Feb. 27: Madeline Soto's mom, Jenn Soto, speaks with FOX 35; would-be suspect appears in background
- Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 28: Orange County Sheriff John Mina hosts press conference about ongoing search
- Wednesday night, Feb. 28: Mom's boyfriend Stephan Sterns arrested on unrelated charges, named ‘prime suspect’ in Madeline Soto case
- Thursday, Feb. 29: Kissimmee Police Department releases Stephan Sterns' arrest affidavit
- Thursday, Feb. 29: Body language expert assesses Stephan Sterns' body language in Zoom interview with Jenn Soto
- Friday morning, March 1: Stephan Sterns dodges questions from FOX 35 while being transferred from Orange County to Osceola County
- Friday afternoon, March 1: Officials say they're ‘confident’ that Madeline Soto is dead
- Friday afternoon, March 1: Multi-agency search for Madeline Soto near area where Stephen Sterns was last seen
- Friday afternoon, March 1: Body found amid search for Madeline Soto
After Maddie's body was found:
- Saturday morning, March 2: Stephan Sterns waives first appearance in court
- Wednesday, March 6: New court documents allege Stephan Sterns may have abused Madeline Soto years before her disappearance, death
- Tuesday, March 12: State Attorney's Office files 60 additional charges against Stephan Sterns
- Thursday, March 21: Kissimmee Police Chief holds press conference with updates about investigation
- Wednesday, April 4: State Attorney Andrew Bain explains why more information has not been released into the Madeline Soto death investigation
- Wednesday, April 4: FOX 35 obtained the 911 calls from the morning 13-year-old Madeline Soto went missing from Orange County
- Saturday, April 15: Maddie Soto’s family and community members gathered at a vigil Saturday to remember the 13-year-old who was found dead days after she was reported missing in February.
- Wednesday, April 24: An Osceola County judge granted a motion to continue the pretrial for Stephan Sterns.
- Wednesday, April 24: A new trial date has been set for Stephan Sterns after an Osceola County judge granted the defense's motion for more time during a pretrial hearing.
- Thursday, April 25: Stephan Sterns has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Florida girl Madeline Soto.
After Stephan Sterns was charged:
- Monday, June 10: The State Attorney's Office intends to seek the death penalty against Stephan Sterns, the man accused of killing his girlfriend's daughter, 13-year-old Madeline "Maddie" Soto, according to court records – should he be convicted.
- Wednesday, July 10: Attorneys for Stephan Sterns, who was charged for the murder of 13-year-old Madeline Soto, have filed motions to continue both trials.
- Thursday, August 22: New police interviews with Stephan Sterns, Jennifer Soto from hours after teen went 'missing'
- Friday, August 23: New documents obtained by FOX 35 this week show that the teen's mother may have known about that alleged abuse.
- Monday, August 26: Madeline Soto's mom admits to knowing Stephan Sterns was 'grooming and abusing' her daughter, documents show.
- Monday, August 26: New documents shed light on how Madeline Soto's body got to the rural location it was eventually found at, and, ultimately, how she died.
- Monday, October 14: Trial date set for Stephan Sterns
- Wednesday, October 23: Kissimmee police revealed new information in the ongoing investigation. Alleged killer Stephan Sterns secretly filmed naked roommate, officials say.
- Friday, October 25: "I didn't start it" Those are the words Stephen Sterns told his parents in a recorded call from jail, audio which was released to FOX 35 Orlando.
2025:
- Thursday, February 6: Stephan Sterns and his attorney file dozens of motions ahead of his murder trial set to begin in September. Asking to strike the death penalty and to have all physical restraint devices removed from Sterns during trial proceedings.
- Wednesday, February 12: Stephan Sterns wants phone evidence tossed ahead of child sex crimes trial.
- Wednesday, February 19: Stephan Sterns asks judge to ban public, press from court hearing.
- Wednesday, February 26: Remembering the 13-year-old one year later; accused killer preps for trial.
- Tuesday, March 4: New details released in the death of Madeline Soto, one year since the initial report
- Wednesday, March 5: Watch: Stephan Sterns 2-hour interrogation amid Madeline Soto disappearance
- Thursday, March 20: Madeline Soto update: Will the media, public be banned from Stephan Sterns' pretrial court hearings?
- Friday, March 21: Maddie Soto update: Stephen Sterns jailhouse calls released
- Thursday, March 27: Judge denies Stephan Sterns' motion to ban the press, public from his pre-trial hearings
One year since Maddie Soto's disappearance
Today marks one year since Maddie Soto first went missing. The 13-year-old's body was found days later in St. Cloud on March 1. Tributes continue to pour in for the young girl, including a special honor from the City of St. Cloud, who plans to gift a bench in her memory at Lakefront Park.
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The Source: This story was written based on information gathered by FOX 35's Randi Hildreth at the suppression court hearing on April 23, 2025, in Osceola County. Information from previous reporting was also included, which came from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the North Port Police Department, and documents from the Orange County Clerk of Courts and Osceola County Clerk of Courts.