Police serving an unrelated warrant for public indecency on Gary Siders II stumbled into a nightmare that shocked even hardened investigators: 16 children, ages 18 months to 18 years, living like animals in a filthy 12-by-12-foot room covered in human feces and unimaginable squalor.
The discovery happened this week in the tiny village of Hamden when officers arrived to arrest Siders II. What they found inside the home on Ohmer Street has been described by authorities as “pure evil,” “beyond comprehension,” and conditions that “really looked third world.”
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson didn’t mince words: “It really looked third world. It is not something we are used to seeing in America. I cannot get the smell off of me.”
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain was equally blunt: “Most of the livestock was kept in better condition than the children.” He added that the kids had been confined to that tiny, disgusting space for most of the last four years. “Literally about to fall through the floor,” Wilson said of the scene.
The children were in such horrific shape that several had to be hospitalized. Seven were taken to Columbus hospitals, two were careflighted to level-one trauma centers, and at least one was intubated in the ICU. Many could barely communicate.
Sheriff Cain noted the investigative challenge: “One of the investigative challenges is that (the children) are limited. They can communicate, but it’s extremely limited, and some not at all.”
The 18-year-old reportedly could not even spell her own name. Authorities described them as “almost feral.”This is an intra-family case, not human trafficking, not strangers.
The four adults arrested are the children’s parents and grandparents: Gary Siders II (36), his wife Elizabeth Siders (33, the biological mother of all 16), Gary Siders Sr. (73), and Christina Siders (67). Each faces 16 felony counts of child endangerment involving serious physical harm.
That’s up to 192 years in prison if convicted on every count. A $300,000 cash bond has been set for each of the four suspects. They have pleaded not guilty.
Gary Siders II and Elizabeth Siders were legally married in Mason County, West Virginia, when they were teenagers. An employee with the Mason County Clerk of Courts confirmed the marriage with NBC4. Their address was listed as Bulaville Pike, in Gallapolis, Ohio, across the river from Mason County.
Gary Siders II was 18 years old and had finished ninth grade, Elizabeth Ann Russell was 15 and had finished eighth grade. Four parents signed the marriage certificate – Gary Lee Siders and Christian White for Gary II, and Brian Russell and Lori Ann Raines for Elizabeth.
The oldest child was born two months later.
The children were removed from the home and are in protective custody with Ohio Job and Family Services. Court records note that their ages as 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4 (twins), 2 (twins) and 1.5 years (twins). The Vinton County School District said there is no record indicating any of the children involved have been enrolled as students. What is not yet confirmed is who the parents are. Wilson said the investigation is an “intra-family case,” but no one knew that children lived in the home when the warrant was served.
The Siders adults were arrested after a warrant was issued in a case that the sheriff’s office called a parallel investigation. The court-authorized search warrants were part of an investigation involving allegations of domestic abuse and child neglect but unrelated to the current case.
It is believed that authorities were also serving a warrant for Gary Siders II, who is separately charged with indecent exposure. Records state that on May 23, May 27, May 29 and May 31, Siders II exposed himself outside of the Ohmer Street home and that it involved people “who are not members of his household.”
