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Jurors claim that they disregarded the riveting tales of Steinberg's sadism told by Nussbaum, who testified for the prosecution in return for dismissal of all charges against her. To many who followed the trial with horror, the question of her complicity in Lisa's death -- and in her own degradation -- remained unanswered. Even observers who were moved by Nussbaum's condition were appalled by her testimony that she did nothing when she suspected that the girl had been sexually abused.
But feminist Gloria Steinem argues that Steinberg's mistreatment left Nussbaum too traumatized to act. "As an extreme victim, she forces us to do one of two things," says Steinem. "Reject and blame her, or think we could be her. It's hard to think we could be her -- so we'd rather blame her."
The case focused attention on shortcomings in the system for preventing child abuse. Though Lisa suffered repeated mistreatment, her plight only once came to the attention of city officials. Neighbors and adults at school who noticed her bruises never reported their suspicions. During Steinberg's trial, child-abuse hot lines recorded a flood of calls in the New York City area, where two or three children are beaten to death every week. After the verdict, bills were introduced in the New York state legislature to toughen penalties for child abuse.
But many experts contend that harsher punishments are not the answer. They want child-welfare workers to have more manageable case loads and better training. "There will be a flurry of public outrage," says Loretta Kowal, executive director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. "But unless it's translated into adequate funding and training of professional staff, it's all going to be a waste of time."
For now, Steinberg is in protective custody in a New York City jail while awaiting sentencing. He faces multi-million-dollar lawsuits brought separately by Nussbaum and by the natural mothers of Lisa and another child he illegally adopted, a boy named Travis, now 2 1/2. Nussbaum remains at a psychiatric facility in Katonah, N.Y., where she has been since last March. Lisa is buried in Hawthorne, N.Y., under a gravestone that reads GOD'S ANGEL.