Madeline Soto's Diary Allegedly Depicts Evidence of Her Abuse From Stephan Sterns
Stephan Sterns is currently in custody as a suspect of Madeline Soto's murder.
Published Aug. 26 2024, 6:57 p.m. ET
Report online or in-person sexual abuse of a child or teen by calling the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 or visiting childhelp.org. Learn more about the warning signs of child abuse at RAINN.org.
The case of Madeline Soto has been a heartbreaking one for true crime fans to follow. Just days after her 13th birthday, Madeline was found dead, and her mother's boyfriend, Stephan Sterns, was arrested in connection to the case.
Madeline's mother, Jennifer, publicly asked for assistance in finding her daughter, not knowing that her boyfriend would be arrested days later with alleged "disturbing images" on his phone.
Sterns was arrested for "sexual battery and possession of child sexual abuse material," per the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and is also a primary suspect in the case of her death. As true crime fans try to dissect the pieces of this case, they've shared photos of her supposed diary online, which has been shared numerous times.
Photos of Madeline Soto's diary have been shared online.
A thread on Reddit of evidence photos shared from various livestreams and videos online about the crime shared pictures of Madeline's diary. One, which was not shared online due to its explicit nature, allegedly depicted "drawings of a girl being sexually assaulted by a man."
Another entry, which seemed to be written by Madeline, included a drawing of a sad girl with the lyrics to Lana Del Rey's song "Summertime Sadness."
Some of the evidence photos shared seem to include writing from Madeline's mother, reading "My fluctuating moods, anxiety, and trauma related symptoms affect my memory, concentration, focus and energy levels," suggesting Jennifer used Madeline's notebook at some point. Since the arrest, a combination of evidence seems to suggest that Jennifer may have known about the sexual abuse before her daughter's death.
“During the interview, Jennifer Soto continuously protected Stephan Sterns, was questioned about why she prioritizes Stephan Sterns over (Madeline), and even at one point referred to the ‘sex stuff as not evil but the murder of (Madeline) as ‘evil,’” an arrest report stated, per WFLA.
