An Oneida woman was charged Nov. 13 with chronic child neglect, becoming the fourth adult charged in connection to the severe malnourishment of a 14-year-old girl.
Melissa Goodman, 50, was charged in Outagamie County with five counts of chronic child neglect resulting in great bodily harm or emotional damage. On Nov. 11, Goodman’s husband Walter Goodman, her daughter Savanna Lefever and Lefever’s partner Kayla Stemler were charged with the same five counts.
The four charged adults all lived in the home with the teen, according to a criminal complaint.
According to the complaint, an investigation into the condition of Walter Goodman’s teen daughter began after Walter called 911 Aug. 21 to report that the teen was “lethargic” and “comatose.” When first responders arrived to the Goodmans’ Hattie Lane home, they said the girl looked “severely underweight and malnourished,” with some of her bones visibly prominent, the complaint said.
The girl was transported to the hospital, where a nurse reported she weighed only 35 pounds, the complaint said. The girl was diagnosed with severe malnourishment and doctors were concerned about organ failure.
Walter Goodman and Stemler told Child Protective Services the girl got three meals a day, the complaint said. Walter Goodman said the reason the girl had lost so much weight was because she didn’t sleep, which “burns up all her energy,” the complaint said.
Investigators found text messages between Stemler, Lefever and Melissa Goodman consistently referring to the girl as “stupid” or “dummy,” and discussing letting the girl use the bathroom, physically hurting the girl and what she should be allowed to eat, the complaint said.
A man who said he had grown up with Walter Goodman told police he heard Walter make comments like, “If she misbehaves, I’m not going to feed her today” and “I keep her locked up in her bedroom with a camera on her, and that’s where she stays,” the complaint said.
At the hospital, a nurse said the girl’s “eyes lit up” when she was told she would have three meals a day in the hospital and the girl began listing all of the food options she could have, the complaint said. Then, the girl said, “my dad is going to be so mad” because “he really doesn’t like when I eat that much.”
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@greenbay.gannett.com or (920) 431-8314.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Fourth adult charged in Oneida child neglect case of severely malnourished teen
Reporting by Vivian Barrett, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
