Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: Friday Night Special: 21 Life Sentences for Maddie Soto Killer

Date: November 22, 2025

Overview

In this gripping episode, Nancy Grace dives deeply into the horrific murder and years-long sexual abuse of 13-year-old Madeline "Maddie" Soto in Florida, exposing the failings and blind spots that allowed her mother's boyfriend, Stephan Stearns, to victimize, murder, and discard her. The episode follows the conviction and sentencing of Stearns—21 life sentences handed down in a plea deal—and raises searing questions about the environment that enabled the years of trauma Maddie suffered. The expert panel unpacks court evidence, including disturbing videos, the behavior of Maddie’s mother, and the continued narcissism of Stearns in prison.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Maddie’s Tragic Story and Early Warnings

• Maddie’s Wish to Flee: Maddie, since turning 13, expressed to friends her desire to run away to the woods—citing her mother's boyfriend's ongoing molestation, believed to start when she was just 8 or 9 years old.
  • Nancy Grace [02:42]: “Little 13 year old Maddie Soto told her friends ... she wanted to run away from home and live in the woods. Why? Because mommy's boyfriend was repeatedly molesting her...”
• Home Environment: Maddie regularly slept alone with Stearns; her mother and others appeared disturbingly calm during the investigation of her disappearance.
  • Nancy Grace [05:23]: “Is it just me? Am I projecting or is everybody just a little too calm in that video?...Maddie is missing and she has been missing for a considerable period...”

2. The Investigation and Key Evidence

• Surveillance Footage and Cars:
  • Surveillance tracked both Stearns’ car and Maddie’s mom’s car repeatedly driving between the home and the location where Maddie’s body was dumped.
  • Shannon Butler [08:17]: “Detectives say they tracked another vehicle, a white Nissan owned by Maddie's mother...making an identical trip...to the body was found.”
• Who Was Driving?: Uncertainty remains about whether Maddie’s mother was involved, with speculation fueled by repeated trips and widespread suspicion.
  • Tim Jansen [09:03]: “We don't know who the driver is. And that, of course, is one of the biggest questions...a lot of questions. Could it have been Jen Soto?”
• Returning to the Scene: The panel discusses why criminals revisit crime scenes—covering their tracks, reliving adrenaline, or checking if the body’s been discovered.
  • Nancy Grace [11:55]: “Why do criminals go back, circle back to the scene of the crime?...It means something to me.”

3. The Family Dynamic and Suspicions about Maddie’s Mother

• Behavior of Maddie’s Mother: Much debate about the mother's apparent lack of awareness and emotional detachment.
  • Robin Dreek [14:46]: “They are way too calm...I’m shocked...the mother hasn't been charged yet.”
  • Nancy Grace [27:33]: “Certain pedophiles look specifically to establish a relationship with a woman that has a child the age in which they're interested.”
• Failure to Protect: Discussion of legal and psychological frameworks for charging mothers who allow abuse under their roof.
  • Dr. Jorie Crossan [28:32]: “I've seen hundreds of those cases...mothers don't protect their children...we have regularly charged mothers with failure to protect.”

4. The Abuse, Evidence, and Charges

• Enormity of the Evidence:
  • Thousands of Explicit Images/Videos: Over 1,900 explicit videos and photos—majority featuring Maddie—recovered from Stearns’ phone, despite his attempt to wipe the device.
    • Nancy Grace [20:38, 47:00]: “Literally thousands, 1700 explicit sex photos of Madeleine. Thousands, thousands on Stern's phone. Where was mommy when all this was happening?”
    • Shannon Butler [46:35]: “Thousands of images, sexual photos and videos, mostly of Madeline, were recovered and led to the 60 additional charges...”
• Timeline of Abuse: Abuse cataloged from 2019, indicating Maddie was as young as 8 or 9 when it began.
• Maddie’s Final Hours: Surveillance footage showed Maddie’s dead body propped and buckled in the passenger seat to simulate her being alive, as Stearns drove to dump her body.
  • Shannon Butler [29:39]: “Her dead body is propped up and buckled into the car...head leaning toward her shoulder with her mouth open...”

5. Stearns’ Narcissism and Jailhouse Behavior

• Self-Pity Behind Bars: Stearns whines incessantly about jail conditions—his pillow, food, mattress—even as damning evidence stacks up.
  • Nancy Grace [33:38]: “I have never felt a full stomach...the cell is small and filthy...the mat is flat and has very little cushion left. I bet it was nothing compared to sleeping in the bed with Maddie.”
  • Robin Dreek [35:55]: “He's got a lifetime pattern of self centeredness and me, me, me...the world will continue to service him.”
• Panel Dismisses Sympathy: Nancy and experts flatly reject any sympathy for Stearns’ complaints, contrasting his comfort with Maddie’s suffering.

6. Forensics and Proving Years of Abuse

• Autopsy Challenges: Decomposition in the Florida heat and five days in the elements hampered forensic evidence for long-term abuse, making recovered photos/videos crucial.
  • Dr. Eric Eason [43:36]: “It's going to be very tough to determine after five days out in the elements like this.”
  • Nancy Grace [44:59]: “We may not be able to tell from her body that she had endured molestation for years if it weren’t for this idiot's phone...”

7. Conspiracy and Other Potential Defendants

• Network of Complicity?: Suggestions from both former FBI and behavioral experts that broader complicit behavior might involve family, with Stearns’ mother’s prison emails implicating others (including Maddie’s mother).
  • Shannon Butler [15:36]: “Every time you have a case like this...there's a network involved here...”
  • Shannon Butler [45:26]: “Stern's mother is saying...‘we all know ___ was heavily involved in this and I am disgusted she’s free and you are not...’”
• Mother’s Legal Status: The mother remains not a suspect nor person of interest, but the panel questions the adequacy of this stance.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• [02:42] Nancy Grace (on Maddie's warning to friends):
  “Little 13 year old Maddie Soto told her friends as soon as she turned 13, she wanted to run away from home and live in the woods. Why? Because mommy's boyfriend was repeatedly molesting her…”
• [05:23] Nancy Grace (on the calmness of Maddie's family):
  “Is it just me? Am I projecting or is everybody just a little too calm in that video?”
• [14:46] Robin Dreek (on the mother’s demeanor):
  “They are way too calm as a cucumber...I’m shocked that Madeline is the entire circle around her and that the mother hasn't been charged yet.”
• [20:38] Nancy Grace (on evidence):
  “There are literally thousands, 1700 explicit sex photos of Madeleine. Thousands, thousands on Stern's phone. Where was mommy when all this was happening?”
• [33:38] Nancy Grace (on Stearns’ complaints from jail):
  “I have never felt a full stomach and have in fact forgotten what that is like...the mat is flat and has very little cushion left. I bet it was nothing compared to sleeping in the bed with Maddie.”
• [35:55] Robin Dreek (on Stearns’ behavior):
  “He's got a lifetime pattern of self centeredness and me, me, me...he looks completely fluid and natural doing it because this isn't his first time in life.”
• [44:59] Nancy Grace (on proof of prior abuse):
  “We may not be able to tell from her body that she had endured molestation for years if it weren’t for this idiot's phone that reveals these thousands of photos.”
• [45:26] Shannon Butler (reading Stearns’ mother’s email):
  "'We all know ___ was heavily involved in this, and I am disgusted that she's free and you are not. When this is not all your fault...'"
• [41:11] Nancy Grace (on sentencing):
  “Stephan Sterns, age 39, gets 21 life sentences which will run concurrently or at the same time. So I’m not that impressed...what it boils down to is one life sentence.”

Timestamps for Critical Segments

• [02:42] – Maddie's disclosure to friends, abuse background
• [04:27] – Breakdown of night she disappeared
• [08:17] – Surveillance car evidence and suspicion
• [14:46] – Behavioral analysis of mother and network claims
• [20:38] – [22:59] – Numbers of explicit images, details about abuse
• [29:39] – [31:34] – Maddie’s body manipulated to appear alive
• [33:38] – [35:55] – Jailhouse email complaints from Stearns
• [41:11] – Sentencing and forensic insights
• [45:26] – Stearns’ mother suggests others are involved
• [47:23] – Physical description of the home environment

Tone and Language

The episode maintains Nancy Grace’s no-nonsense, incredulous, and indignant tone. She repeatedly expresses outrage at both the crime and the system's failures—the leniency of concurrent sentencing, the alleged ignorance or complicity of Maddie’s mother, and Stearns’ self-absorption in jail. The panelists use blunt, often harrowing language to describe both the events and the evidence, while also striving to explain forensic and legal terms for lay listeners.

Conclusion

This episode starkly highlights the devastating effect of unchecked, long-term abuse and familial dysfunction, pushing listeners to confront uncomfortable truths about enabling behaviors, legal loopholes, and the complexity of prosecuting crimes against children. Nancy Grace’s unfiltered delivery, supported by her expert panel, drives home that justice for Maddie Soto remains incomplete and the conversation about responsibility is far from over.