Authorities in Ohio say they had no idea 16 children were living inside a home in Vinton County until deputies arrived to serve an unrelated warrant last week.
Officers found children ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years allegedly living in a 12-by-12-foot room inside the house. Four adults have since been arrested and face multiple child endangerment charges.
How the children were discovered
Sheriff’s deputies went to the Vinton County home in Hamden, a village of about 700 people, on Tuesday to serve a warrant for a “parallel case” involving one of the four adults living there. Investigators were not prepared for what they found, 16 children, ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years, living in a small room of a five-room, one-bathroom home.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described the children as “almost feral” and said, “I have never seen anything like what I saw today. It really looked third world. It is not something we are used to seeing in America. I cannot get the smell off of me,” as per NBC4.
The children were allegedly kept isolated in a 12-foot by 12-foot room littered with human waste for at least four years. Seven of the children were hospitalized in the Columbus area, including two who were taken to trauma centers.
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Why the investigation is moving slowly
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said the children have great difficulty communicating, which is slowing down the investigation. “One of the investigative challenges is that [the children] are limited. They can communicate, but it’s extremely limited and some not at all,” Cain said.
The oldest child, an 18-year-old, is developmentally disabled and unable to even write her name, according to authorities cited by the New York Post. The children have never been enrolled in school and it remains unclear exactly who all their parents are.
Gary Siders II who is 36, his wife Elizabeth Siders who is 33 and his parents Gary Sr who is 73, and Christina who is 66, were arrested last week and face multiple charges of child endangerment.
Court records list the other children’s ages as 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, and 5, along with 4-year-old twins, 2-year-old twins, and 1-year-old twins.
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What happens next
Siders is due in court Tuesday over the initial indecent-exposure warrant and all four suspects face up to 16 counts of child endangerment, with $300,000 bonds each.
Judge Laina Fetheroff Rogers issued the bonds, with each charge carrying a minimum sentence of 2-to-8 years in prison, as per NBC4. If found guilty of all charges, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of up to 192 years in prison.
Dorian Baum, counsel for Gary Siders Sr, said, “It’s important that everybody is entitled the presumption of innocence, Mr. Siders is just like everyone else in this country. And whatever you may think you know, or whatever you may have heard out, there is certainly only one side of the story. It’s only the story that’s been released by the state,” as per NBC4.
The children have been removed from the home and are in protective custody with Ohio Job and Family Services.
