Found Deceased FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #12

[ttjo]

Hi guys. I don't know if I'm slow on the uptake or what, but I rewatched the video where SS is arrested, and the detective says he's under arrest for capital sexual battery.

I didn't realize that he's facing two possible DP sentences, unless I'm not understanding that correctly.

IIRC way way back in the earlier threads, it was explained that the new death penalty law as it pertained to child SA applied to crimes that occurred in children 12 and under and after a certain date. I dont think maddis case met that criteria, it was a new bill that DeSantis signed. I could try to find it again.

 

[ttjo]

Hi guys. I don't know if I'm slow on the uptake or what, but I rewatched the video where SS is arrested, and the detective says he's under arrest for capital sexual battery.

I didn't realize that he's facing two possible DP sentences, unless I'm not understanding that correctly.

T

Found Deceased Post in thread 'FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #4'

Mar 14, 2024

Maybe wait for ( any lawyers here ) to confirm this but maybe this will help.
I found this: I got it from here ( its the very last line on the first page). https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1297/Analyses/h1297z.CRJ.PDF

• ttjo

• 

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

If I am understanding the court docs and videos I watched, SS never went to the storage unit following Maddie’s murder. There was a computer error that misread when the unit was last accessed. However, before LE became aware of that information they were able to obtain a warrant to see if SS was hiding Maddie in CS’ unit. They were also able to search vacant units near CS’ as well.

The Sterns state that they moved to North Port in May 2020. It appears that SS had a few things stored there, include the hard drives and thumb drives, from that time when his parents moved housing locations. These thumb and hard drives contained 30K worth of CSAM material unrelated to MS’ case and have not been used but stored in a storage bin in the left back corner of CS’ unit.

Shortly after his interviews with LE, and after they already collected SS’ desktop computer, CS went through his storage unit to confirm for himself whether or not SS had actually accessed it or his evidence there. He found the drives in the back storage bins, reported it to LE who then obtained a warrant and collected them as part of their investigation and the 30,000 CSAM images on them.

As other commenters have mentioned, the desktop that was collected was missing its hard drive.

 

[Forest_Wood]

32:08

sorry there's where he says the thumb drive you gave us at about 26:19 min, ( which is where. the 30,000 photos were) then commentary till 32:08 , then the interview starts again at 34:24. I wish I could find one thats not interrupted but this is the best I could find thats an approved source. It's really unfortnate that it is so interrupted during such an important part.

Thank you for finding this @ttjo. I'm listening to it slowly. One thing that stands out is how LE is giving the father Chris Sterns so much information about what they've discovered at that point in the investigation. I would have thought LE would keep details more confidential but here they are sharing it with the perp's father. And Chris Sterns is chatting away about construction and traffic and this and that, as if it's just another day.
MOO.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

They behave just like Jen: nothing good to say about their child (except that he has a high IQ). SS seems to be a single burden to them, like Maddie represented to her mother.

Well what could SS's parents say about him that's good, honestly? It sounds like he's had a predatory mindset his entire life, including toward them, never caring about anyone, including them. JMO.

 

[FromGermany1]

Thank you for finding this @ttjo. I'm listening to it slowly. One thing that stands out is how LE is giving the father Chris Sterns so much information about what they've discovered at that point in the investigation. I would have thought LE would keep details more confidential but here they are sharing it with the perp's father. And Chris Sterns is chatting away about construction and traffic and this and that, as if it's just another day.
MOO.

They are accepting him as an ex-cop and "colleague", probably.

 

[Forest_Wood]

32:08

sorry there's where he says the thumb drive you gave us at about 26:19 min, ( which is where. the 30,000 photos were) then commentary till 32:08 , then the interview starts again at 34:24. I wish I could find one thats not interrupted but this is the best I could find thats an approved source. It's really unfortnate that it is so interrupted during such an important part.

43:55: CS: Too bad he wasn't smart enough about the phone.
56:55: CS: 30,000 images! That's amazing. Did you have to see all 30,000 images?
LE: Yes.
CS: How long does it take to do that?
LE: A long time.
CS: Talk about not unseeing something. I envy your job and then I don't envy your job. I know it's fascinating work but then again, you're left with a lifetime of that s**t.
58:00: CS: How far back do those images go?
100:24: CS: Thank you for entertaining me.

Those are the comments of CS that stood out to me as being odd. As I was listening to his queries, it crossed my mind that CS has something to hide in all of this and was fishing to find out if LE had found anything on him personally. JMO of course.

 

[FromGermany1]

Well what could SS's parents say about him that's good, honestly? It sounds like he's had a predatory mindset his entire life, including toward them, never caring about anyone, including them. JMO.

You are right, but they could have said just less at least.

 

[Inthedetails]

Well what could SS's parents say about him that's good, honestly? It sounds like he's had a predatory mindset his entire life, including toward them, never caring about anyone, including them. JMO.

They could say, "We kicked him out long ago," except they didn't.

I'm thinking even if they didn't know specifically what he was doing, they knew for a long time, imo, that he was into creepy stuff and kept a short leash on him in hopes of keeping him under control. imopinion

jmo

 

[ChatteringBirds]

"I envy your job." How bizarre.
I would also bold, "I know it's fascinating work."
What's wrong with him?

 

[Forest_Wood]

They are accepting him as an ex-cop and "colleague", probably.

Yes, I know he is a former cop, but many, many years ago. LE is engaging him because they obviously want to collect information about SS, the perp. But the way CS is searching out information, it would seem it's CS doing the interviewing instead of the other way around IMO. Very bold of CS to keep contacting them IMO. I sense manipulation from CS here.
MOO.

 

[Inthedetails]

Yes, I know he is a former cop, but many, many years ago. LE is engaging him because they obviously want to collect information about SS, the perp. But the way CS is searching out information, it would seem it's CS doing the interviewing instead of the other way around IMO. Very bold of CS to keep contacting them IMO. I sense manipulation from CS here.
MOO

So many families in cases complain they don't get as much information as they want from LE. This guy feels comfortable going to LE and using his past LE experience to buddy up. I don't really blame him for using whatever tools he has to get info about super serious charges against his son. At this point, I'm not reading more into it than that.

jmo

 

[FromGermany1]

43:55: CS: Too bad he wasn't smart enough about the phone.
56:55: CS: 30,000 images! That's amazing. Did you have to see all 30,000 images?
LE: Yes.
CS: How long does it take to do that?
LE: A long time.
CS: Talk about not unseeing something. I envy your job and then I don't envy your job. I know it's fascinating work but then again, you're left with a lifetime of that *advertiser censored*.
58:00: CS: How far back do those images go?
100:24: CS: Thank you for entertaining me.

Those are the comments of CS that stood out to me as being odd. As I was listening to his queries, it crossed my mind that CS has something to hide in all of this and was fishing to find out if LE had found anything on him personally. JMO of course.

bbm
Wouldn't be surprising to me, if your thoughts were justified. Anyway, these many (old) males in Maddie's story are a bit suspect to me, for now.

 

[Forest_Wood]

So many families in cases complain they don't get as much information as they want from LE. This guy feels comfortable going to LE and using his past LE experience to buddy up. I don't really blame him for using whatever tools he has to get info about super serious charges against his son. At this point, I'm not reading more into it than that.

jmo

Yes, that is true I'm sure. Still, it's the oddest thing to me that SS's father is so bold and calm about the entire situation, as well as providing a bunch of incriminating evidence against his own son. MOO.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Yes, that is true I'm sure. Still, it's the oddest thing to me that SS's father is so bold and calm about the entire situation, as well as providing a bunch of incriminating evidence against his own son. MOO.

Yes @Forest_Wood …. almost similar to JS’s input to investigators, yet it is not clear if both are providing accurate information? Unnecessary details?Or obfuscating facts? Something IMO still needs to be examined as to the hard drive, storage unit, etc. From my own recollection, an external hard drive would be much easier to disconnect (simply USB cable attached perhaps)…. vs. a hard drive within a computer tower (for a desk top) or from within a laptop (requires tools and time to disassemble the case….. at least in the last several years as I had to do that). What type computer(s) are we looking at again? Is that even clear?

Lastly, am I reading correctly up thread? Was it CS (and not SS) that helped LE locate some other discs, files, another hard drive, USB (or the like) with ~30k (30,000 images)? Those are simply jpg or image files? Or were there any video too? Aren’t video (i.e. mp3, etc.) quite large files? And typically much larger than e.g. an image or jpg or png format file? Wonder if LE really has all of the possible electronic files or images and where they were located. MOO

 

[shetalksinstereo]

I have no idea at all about computers, but I know, I have an external hard drive in addition to the hard drive in the laptop. My "home-expert" told me to have it like that, since my laptop had problems and had been in repair also. My thought as an PC-"idiot" is: Could have SS worked with an external hard drive only, after removing the hard drive time ago already?

ETA: CS saw his son on the computer - okay. But what was he doing there? Did he operate the keyboard or did he look at the inner workings and tinker around?

I know it's POSSIBLE to use a desktop without a hard drive, but I think you would still need something that acted in it's place to boot the computer. Most people don't have an operating system on an external device? Could he have been prepared with that in advance? And I'm not sure why he would need to use the computer if the hard drive was out, unless he was erasing something on another device, such as an external hard drive. Wouldn't it have been quicker and easier to detroy the other device or toss it somewhere?

 

[Pruddennce]

I've been puzzling that too. Where was SS Mom at this point? If home with the dogs, did she let him in? Did he try to get in without waking her, and failed because the keyless entry was down? Or did she wake up and let him in and they've lied about it?

I'd bet that he tried to get in without waking her and failed to get in. However, after seeing Mom in the recent interview, she seems like the type that could enable her son and agree to keep it a secret from Dad and LE.

IMO, the barking dogs alerting and DS said it was probably a critter, LE does have evidence he was there trying to use their wifi. and she happens to know exactly the time the dogs were barking saying she looked at her watch? IIRC that time would not place him there.

IMO, they knew alot about their son's comings and goings, because basically as his father says, it might involve their money. it appears they were presenting their h/w relationship as they didnt discuss his comings and goings with each other. I call BS on that: his father is all shady IMO talking about SS's plans, CS didnt know the plan until last minute?

portion of their LE interview:

CS addressing DS: was the invite on Saturday or or did he just say Sunday I'm going to Kissimmee...
DS: no we knew we knew, I knew the week before because I found the uh the gifts for Maddie *

then further in talking about SS and his anxiety and looking for the meds on saturday and then when asked about why 'something was odd about SS's demeanor on saturday: (just a portion of his explanation below, they go on and on)

CS: not angry upset but just something worrisome just seemed like there was something that was really praying on him and it was not settling well with him...

Detective: and that's when he was told you guys he was going to Kissimmee or did he tell Mom prior to that?

CS: well he was making he was making plans to go to Kissimmee and he was and I don't know exactly when this happened whether he told me on Saturday but I knew he was leaving Sunday because we talked about the expense of that trip and Jen and he said well Jen's going to pay for the trip because I was I was done paying for this stuff and and he said well Jen's going to pay for it you know I said well go down and fill up the car and I'll take care of that that would be enough gas for him to get up and get back because that's all he was going to do and so I'm I'm assuming that the plans were submitted on Saturday but you're telling me (addressing DS and she hm hm's) that you knew about a week in advance and maybe he started planning that a week in advance but I was I wasn't aware of it until last minute

Det: but he didn't have this fearful reaction earlier that week it was just that Saturday?
CS: yep
Det: did he say how long he planned on staying in Kissimmee?
CS: a week a week, yep I was planning for, I, we were planning on him going be to be gone for a week because we were welcoming the break

 

[gingertn]

So many families in cases complain they don't get as much information as they want from LE. This guy feels comfortable going to LE and using his past LE experience to buddy up. I don't really blame him for using whatever tools he has to get info about super serious charges against his son. At this point, I'm not reading more into it than that.

jmo

I agree. As someone who reads about cases and participates on this site, I imagine I would be asking all kinds of questions of LE. Yes, to know what they have on my family member but also just my own curiosity and need to understand and process what is going on. Not many people want to think bad of their family (even if deep down you know) and he wants to know the evidence. They have to grieve the son they thought they knew and get to know the one he actually is. I'm sure that sucks and I would want to know all the information I could for that process and try to see what I did wrong.

 

[Pruddennce]

So many families in cases complain they don't get as much information as they want from LE. This guy feels comfortable going to LE and using his past LE experience to buddy up. I don't really blame him for using whatever tools he has to get info about super serious charges against his son. At this point, I'm not reading more into it than that.

jmo

CS says he was a cop for 'a couple of years' and quit to do something else. IMO, not alot of experience, certainly not a detective and IMO he thought his brief stint would validate him, be viewed as 'one of them'. sure, he talked trash about his own son, but also praised himself and DS as well about child rearing.

but what is scary in the July 16 interview (and this interview explains alot about what CS handed over) and discussion about the CSAM found, over 35,000 which would be difficult to identify all of those victims..... toward the end of the interview, CS brings up talk about those images again..... good gosh, this is about HIS son and possession of these images, yet he is enamored with LE work:

CS: 30,000 images that's amazing.....did you have to see all 30,000?
Det: yes
CS: how long does it take to do that?
Det: a long time a long time
CS: talk about not unseeing...I envy your job and then I don't envy your job
Det: yeah..
CS: you know I know it's it's fascinating work but at the same time you're left with a lifetime of that sh**
Det: yeah you see it a lot
CS: yeah yeah for sure all right well I appreciate your help
Det: no problem at all
CS: to give me some uh uh answer some questions again we're just trying to get some closure to
this we're just trying to get some closure to this

 

[IzzyBlanche]

T

Found Deceased Post in thread 'FL - Madeline Soto, 13, Missing Child Alert, 13500 blk Town Loop Blvd, Orlando, 26 Feb 2024 *arrest* #4'

Mar 14, 2024

Maybe wait for ( any lawyers here ) to confirm this but maybe this will help.
I found this: I got it from here ( its the very last line on the first page). https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1297/Analyses/h1297z.CRJ.PDF

• ttjo

• 

Right, that applies to the CSAM but both Chief Betty Holland and the arresting detective said capital sexual battery. Wouldn't that be a separate crime from the CSAM?