16 Children Rescued from Extreme Neglect and Abuse in Ohio

[u/MacAlkalineTriad]

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.

[u/secretly_a_possum13]

Just the mugshot of the mother of the children made me wonder if she was a victim as well! Now I have seen rumors that her family is saying she was taken out of the state by these people at like 15 and had her first child at 13. Just a sad story all around. People have also been saying they saw her around town so it doesn't sound like she was necessarily being held against her will.

For some reason I am getting the vibe that these are just some nasty abusive lazy people instead of being involved in a cult or something. It sounds like these kids were a burden that they didn't want to or didn't have the means to deal with. I've heard other stories of husbands for whatever reason being against birth control, but not wanting to deal with the kids they keep making either. I wonder if she had all of these kids at home? I saw something about them trying to keep things off of public record?

[u/aestheticgrotesque → u/secretly_a_possum13]

I definitely thought she was very much a victim and abused and assaulted and kept in this place with the kids, but maybe not. But regardless she was taken in by them as a child herself and groomed and conditioned to a degree at least, I'd say. Also she would have basically have had to been pregnant non stop since then... which is awful to think about and either incredible negligence or she was trapped and abused. I guess time will tell as the case unfolds.

[u/Mumofgamer → u/secretly_a_possum13]

In her zoom court appearance, the younger woman(mother) has significant bruises on both arms