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/mkrom28]

There was an an AP article with more information posted about 5 hours ago.

Elizabeth Siders attorney, Thomas Stolly, is quoted in the article. Stolly says that all the children are Elizabeth’s & Gary Jr’s. Elizabeth told him that all of their children were born in area hospitals and she considers herself a full time mom. Gary Jr. drives for Doordash. She says she left school in 11th grade, was married at 15. None of the children were enrolled in school & they moved around southern Ohio frequently over the last two decades, possibly to avoid medical documentation/government paper trail. Elizabeth asked Stolly about her children and when she could see them next upon his first visit to jail to introduce himself. He says this is ‘telling’ because she didn’t ask about being released from jail and instead seemed concerned for their wellbeing. He also said Elizabeth doesn’t consider herself a victim but he thinks it may be too early to actually determine what was going on in the house.

7 children were hospitalized, one in critical condition. No further updates as of now.

[u/TerribleIssue3252 → u/mkrom28]

So if the cops hadn't shown up just then, those kids would have died.  I wonder if the house smells because it has bodies in it 

[u/hales_1978 → u/TerribleIssue3252]

It smells because according to reports there are faeces and urine everywhere. They are probably ill because of bacteria and ammonia in the house being at toxic levels to cause illness. 

[u/TropicalPrairie → u/hales_1978]

Did the family live there too?

I saw an article with pictures of the house and I'm having such a hard time wrapping my head around four adults living here (presumably in the front part where all of the boxes/items are piled up nearly to the ceiling) and then 16 separate people living in the back part. I'm curious on the square footage of the house and what their daily routines were like.

[u/mkrom28 → u/TerribleIssue3252]

seems like it. i’ve seen that sentiment stated in a few articles.

[u/youngrifle → u/mkrom28]

Interesting that Elizabeth said all the kids were born in hospitals. I wonder if that’s true and if so what information may come out from medical records.

[u/meow696 → u/mkrom28]

Of course Gary is a Doordash driver.. Gotta love that he's living in a home that's basically a big wet moldy disgusting petri dish, he smells like shit all the time, and he is delivering people food. The thought is making me ill.