ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Newly released video showed detectives questioning Stephan Sterns after the disappearance of Madeline Soto.
During the interview, Sterns explained to detectives what he did the day the teen went missing.
“That’s when I grabbed the clicker, went back, then drove over to her school area and dropped her off,” Sterns said.
Investigators, though, said Madeline never made it to school that day and that they later found her backpack in the trash even though Sterns said she had the backpack with her.
“I can confidently tell you she did not go to school with her backpack,” the detective said.
“Why is that?” Sterns said.
“Because we found it in the trash,” the detective said.
[TIMELINE: Here’s where things stand in the Madeline Soto case 6 months later]
Sterns was in the interrogation room for over five hours. The first three hours he is seen sleeping on the desk before detectives came in to question him.
“Do you know have any idea where she may be,” the detective asked.
“No,” Sterns answered.
Investigators went on to ask him about explicit photos found on his phone, which were photos News 6 later learned allegedly showed him sexually abusing Soto.
“I’m pretty sure you know what some of those pictures are about. You’re a very intelligent person. And I don’t want you to discredit yourself to say you don’t know about all the pictures on your phone. You understand what I’m saying,” the detective said.
“Should I be talking with a lawyer right now,” Sterns asked.
Sterns’ interview ended with law enforcement taking a DNA sample and collecting his clothes as evidence then was handcuffed.
Investigators also conducted a separate interview with Madeline’s mother, Jennifer Soto.
[RELATED: Madeline Soto’s mother interviewed by detectives in new footage]
In that interview, she was asked about her daughter’s alleged abuse along with other questions regarding Sterns.
“After you found out that he was a predator, did you not say he needed a lawyer,” a detective asked Soto.
“I did,” she said.
News 6 Investigator Mike DeForest has combed through and laid out all of the evidence in the case called “Justice for Madeline” in a four-part series. Click here to watch the full series.
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