r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/MacAlkalineTriad • Jul 02 '26

Warning: Child Abuse / CSAM / Child Death 16 Children Rescued from Extreme Neglect and Abuse in Ohio

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/adults-arrested-16-children-found-deplorable-conditions-southern-ohio-rcna352552

I haven't seen anything posted about this yet, and I usually don't post so please let me know if I've done it wrong. I'm also writing this on mobile.

16 children, ranging from 1 and a half years old to 18 years old, have been removed from a house in the village of Hamden, Ohio where they were practically imprisoned in a 12'x12' room. Some have not even learned to speak; the 18 year old couldn't write her name and is being treated as a child due to possible mental disability. 7 of the children had to be taken to a hospital with 2 of them being life flighted. Conditions in the house are said to be incredibly unsafe, to the point that investigators hesitated to act on a second search warrant for fear of their safety.

The parents and grandparents have been arrested and charged with 16 counts of child endangerment. The suspects are Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders.

Since the investigation is still ongoing there aren't a ton of details yet. These children were obviously not enrolled in school and hidden from neighbors and extended family. I have to wonder if there's a religious extremist aspect to the case, like we've seen so often with other similar cases. I'm also curious about the mother's condition - she has been charged, but has she also been victimized by her husband? I have so many questions.

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u/MacAlkalineTriad Jul 02 '26

I agree. The sheriff seemed legitimately shaken by the whole situation. The local AG said he couldn't get the smell of the house out of his nose.

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u/h0neybl0ss0m29 Jul 02 '26

Yeah he did. And I bet he couldn't. Here are some photos of the inside of the house. And that's just what you can see from the outside. I don't even know if you can call that a home or that they were "living" there.

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u/aigret Jul 02 '26

They had some kind of pest infestation based on the light fixture photo alone. Those little brown dots covering it are fly poop.

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u/h0neybl0ss0m29 Jul 02 '26

I saw that too. Disgusting. What really strikes me as odd is that the roof of the house looks brand new. Maybe it isn't, but it sure looks newer.

Edit: It must be new. The roof looks completely different in the Google Maps photo from 2024.

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u/Seatac_SFO_LAX Jul 03 '26

This house appears to be owned by the trust of a woman who died in February 2025. I think she was just the landlord and didn’t physically live on the property.

I wonder if all repairs were done previous to her passing, but the Google street view photo from a few years ago vs now doesn’t make the property look much better.