“I WAS JUST DISCIPLINING HER”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PROSECUTORS SAY 28-YEAR-OLD KAYLA STEMLER FAILED TO ACT WHILE AN AUTISTIC 14-YEAR-OLD WAS STARVED TO 35 POUNDS IN AN ONEIDA HOME… AND A JUDGE HAS SENTENCED HER TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON.
Kayla Stemler, 28, will spend eight years in prison in connection with the severe neglect of a teenager.
Her sentencing took place on August 24.
Authorities located an autistic 14-year-old girl locked inside a bedroom.
The teenager had been starved down to 35 pounds.
She was suffering from multi-organ dysfunction when responders found her.
The girl was so emaciated that a first responder thought she was only 6 to 8 years old.
In August 2025, the girl’s father called 911 for emergency assistance.
He reported to dispatchers that his daughter was lethargic, moaning and nearly comatose.
Responders arrived to discover the girl breathing abnormally.
They found a large bruise on her forehead.
Responders also observed pressure sores and noted she was suffering from hypothermia.
Her blood sugar was measured at a dangerously low level of 24.
Medical staff diagnosed the girl with severe malnutrition.
Doctors also diagnosed respiratory failure and cardiac dysfunction.
She was further diagnosed with severe acute hepatitis and pancreatitis.
Medical workers intubated the teenager.
She was airlifted to Children’s Wisconsin for critical care.
The girl moved into her father’s Oneida home in 2020.
She had not attended school since moving into the residence.
She had not seen a doctor since 2020.
Investigators said the girl was kept inside a bedroom with a camera watching her.
She eventually grew so physically weak that she required walls for support while walking.
She lacked the physical strength to turn on a faucet or shower.
While in medical care, a nurse explained that she would receive three meals every day.
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The girl’s eyes reportedly lit up as she began listing the food she could eat.
Then she worried that her father would become angry.
She explained that he did not like when she ate too much.
Stemler lived inside the Oneida home as the partner of the girl’s adult stepsister.
According to the criminal complaint, Stemler admitted using a belt to discipline the child.
During the sentencing hearing, the girl spoke directly about Stemler’s presence in the house.
The girl said Stemler saw her condition and witnessed her suffering.
She stated that Stemler repeatedly chose not to protect her or tell anyone.
Prosecutors described Stemler as the least responsible of the four adults charged in the case.
They noted that she sometimes spent months away from the residence.
But prosecutors stated that Stemler still had thousands of opportunities to get help.
Stemler pleaded no contest to three separate felony charges.
Her plea included chronic neglect causing great bodily harm.
She pleaded no contest to chronic neglect causing emotional damage.
She also entered a no-contest plea to false imprisonment.
A judge ordered Stemler to serve two consecutive four-year prison terms.
The prison sentence will be followed by three years of extended supervision.
The judge also imposed two years of probation.
During the hearing, the judge called the Oneida home a place of “complete madness.”
The judge stated that it was a miracle the girl survived.
“STRAY ANIMALS ARE TREATED BETTER,” the judge told Stemler.
Four adults in total were charged by authorities.
The girl’s stepmother, Melissa Goodman, has already received 15 years in prison.
The case against the girl’s father, Walter Goodman, remained unresolved in the latest court updates.
The case against the adult stepsister, Savanna LeFever, also remained unresolved in the latest court updates.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
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