A Florida sheriff’s office has apologized after it “accidentally” posted the crime scene photo of a dead 13-year-old girl on Instagram.
The body of Madeline “Maddie” Soto was displayed as one of the featured photos in a now-deleted post made on Osceola County Sheriff Marco Lopez’s Instagram page, The Orlando Sentinel reports.
The photo, posted a day after Soto’s body was found on Friday following a five-day search in rural St. Cloud, appeared as the third picture in a series of unrelated images meant to promote a recent event with officers and seniors.
“A post was made on social media about a community event for seniors. In the post, an investigative photo was accidentally included,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “The photo was immediately removed. We deeply apologize for any confusion or disturbance this may have caused.”
A similar issue was then flagged after Nirva Rodríguez, the executive director of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, posted a selfie of her with Stephan Sterns, the boyfriend of Soto’s mother and prime suspect in the case.
The images, posted on Rodriguez’s personal Facebook page, shows a handcuffed Stern being taken into police custody with a caption in Spanish that read, “If God’s love has been poured out over your life, don’t allow evil to keep you away from what He has prepared for you.”
Like the Instagram post, Rodriguez’s selfie has since been deleted.
The Sheriff’s Office noted that State Attorney Andrew Bain was alerted to the photos, and while he slammed the incidents as “deeply disturbed” and “careless,” he believes they won’t have an impact on the case.
Russ Gibson, the former sheriff who is running to take back his seat, has blasted his opponent and former deputy for the errors, claiming that the body of Soto was published by Lopez himself.
“This photograph was taken at an active crime scene where Madeline’s body was recovered and it was indeed a picture of Madeline’s lifeless body. This is 100% unacceptable and 100% shameful and disrespectful to Madeline, her family and friends!” Gibson wrote on Facebook.
It is unclear if anyone in the sheriff’s office will face charges over the post of Soto’s body as Florida law forbids the release of images of dead minors without the permission of the surviving family.
The Kissimmee Police Department, which is investigating Soto’s death, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Sterns, who was allegedly caught throwing out Soto’s backpack and school items into a dumpster in Kissimmee, has not been charged with her death but was taken into custody and jailed after police found material of child sex abuse on his phone.
He is being held without bail and charged with sexual battery with a child, capital sexual battery, and possession of material depicting sexual performance by a child.
Sterns previously appeared on local TV sobbing over Soto’s disappearance.