“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said Wednesday, describing the house where 16 children had been confined to a single room.
The children, all from one family, ranged in age from one and a half to 18. Human waste was everywhere, officials said. Some of the children could not speak. An 18-year-old who is developmentally disabled could not spell her own name. Cain said they spent most of their time in a room roughly 12 feet by 12 feet, for much of the past four years. He would not say how they were kept inside, but said no cages were found in the house.
Found by accident
Authorities came across the children while serving a search warrant in an unrelated investigation, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said. “We didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there,” he said. He called the scene at the home in the village of Hamden “pure evil” and the worst he had met in his career. Nearly 24 hours later, he said, he still “can’t get the smell off of me.”
Seven children were taken to hospitals in Columbus. Two were flown by helicopter to level one trauma centers. One was in critical condition Tuesday and had to be intubated. “They looked like almost feral animals,” Wilson said.
Charges and court
The children’s parents and two grandparents are each charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment. Prosecuting Attorney William Archer said the charge applies because the case involves “serious physical harm.” He stressed it is not a human trafficking case but an “intra-family situation.”
Gary Siders Jr, Gary Siders Sr, Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders appeared in court Wednesday. A judge entered not guilty pleas for them and set bond at $300,000 each. Archer said the state is seeking temporary custody of all the children.
Investigators said the family had moved around southern Ohio over two decades and appeared to have avoided creating medical and government records. The children were not enrolled in school. “They were pretty adept at keeping these kids out of sight and away from investigators’ eyes,” Wilson said, adding that no one outside the family seemed to know the children existed.
Hamden has fewer than 1,000 residents and sits about 80 miles south-east of Columbus, in one of Ohio’s poorest counties. Neighbors said they were stunned. Joseph Stewart, 60, who has lived on the street for six years, told the Associated Press he had seen “no kids at all” since the family moved in. Petey Angels, 64, told the Columbus Dispatch: “Nothing happens here.”
