A father and three others have been charged with child neglect after a 14-year-old girl Wisconsin girl was found weighing just 35 pounds and was forced to stay in a locked bedroom under video surveillance, according to court documents.
Walter Goodman, 47; Melissa Goodman, 50; Savanna Lefever, 29; and Kayla Stemler, 27, were arrested on Nov. 10 following an “extensive” child neglect investigation, the Oneida Police Department said.
They are charged with three counts of chronic neglect of a child with the consequence of great bodily harm and two counts of chronic neglect of a child with the consequence of emotional damage.
Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
The investigation began on Aug. 21 when Walter Goodman, the victim’s father, called 911 to report that his daughter, who he said barely eats, had been ill for days and was throwing up, according to the charging documents.
When first responders arrived, they found the girl was “severely underweight and malnourished,” appeared to be the size of a 6- to 8-year-old child and had a “very prominent” collarbone, rib cage and hip bones, the criminal complaint said.
She was hospitalized and found to weigh 35 pounds. She also had hypothermia and hypoglycemia and signs of multi-organ dysfunction. She had no medical records for the last five years, the complaint said.
Goodman told authorities that his daughter was autistic, refused to eat, claiming she was so thin because she burned up all her energy by not sleeping, the complaint said.
A child neglect investigation was opened Aug. 22.
Goodman told authorities his daughter was fed three meals a day but she often didn’t eat because she didn’t want to, and he’d often give her Pediasure. He also said she went days without sleep and he had a camera in his daughter’s room because she self-harms and picks at herself, the complaint said.
Investigators and hospital staff found that the victim’s condition didn’t add up with Goodman’s stories. She didn’t have self-harm behaviors — the victim said she’d pick her flesh out of boredom and didn’t do so in the hospital — she had no trouble sleeping, and in her forensic interviews, she “described love and fondness for her family members,” the complaint said.
In 2020, the girl began living with her father in a trailer home in Oneida, a small town about 15 miles west of Green Bay. Stepmother Melissa Goodman, the stepmother’s adult daughter, Lefever, and Lefever’s partner, Stemler, also lived in the home, as did the stepmother’s teenage son, who was not named, according to the criminal complaint.
The victim had previously lived with her mother but didn’t have any contact with her after moving in with Walter Goodman, the complaint said. The girl hadn’t attended school in person since virtual learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and was reportedly homeschooled since 2021 through 2025, the complaint said.
During interviews with investigators and representatives from child protective services and child welfare, Melissa Goodman told an investigator that the victim “likes to fib and say things are wrong with her,” the complaint said. Lefever told the investigator said she didn’t have any concerns regarding the victim’s care, according to the filing.
A friend of Walter Goodman’s told investigators that he heard Goodman make concerning comments about his daughter, including about not feeding her if she misbehaves. When the friend said he could not do that, Goodman allegedly replied, “Well I keep her locked up in her bedroom with a camera on her, and that’s where she stays,” the complaint said.
Officers who searched the home saw the girl’s door had holes for bolt locks, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, the friend said he confronted Goodman about how he treated his daughter, and he allegedly said, “If I could leave her somewhere in the woods, I’d leave her.”
Officers also spoke to the child’s third grade teacher who reported the girl was a “friendly and talkative” child and did not have any eating problems. The teacher didn’t notice the girl was autistic or on the spectrum and never enrolled in any special education programs, the complaint said.
Officials reviewed messages sent between the family members, in which Melissa Goodman, her son and Lefever referred to the girl as “dummy” and “stupid.” Those texts described feeding the girl, taking her to the bathroom at appointed times, and the girl sleeping on the floor, according to the complaint.
In one text on March 6, Lefever said “if she does well we were gonna give her real food,” the complaint said.
The victim told hospital workers that she’d shower “maybe weekly or monthly.” Her physical condition was so deteriorated she couldn’t raise her arms “all the way up,” and needed a break between walks, the complaint said.
One day while in the hospital she asked for a second chocolate pudding and while eating it she said, “My dad will be so mad,” the complaint said. When asked why, she replied, “He doesn’t like when I eat this much,” the filing said.
When she was told she’d have three meals per day, the registered nurse documented the girl’s “eyes lit up as she started listing off all the options of food she could have over the course of her hospitalization,” the complaint said. She asked about pancakes, M&Ms, and tacos and said she was looking forward to having vegetables, the complaint said.