VINTON COUNTY — Four adults are in custody after law enforcement found 16 children living in what was described as “deplorable conditions” in an Ohio home.
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The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a home in the Village of Hamden, according to Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson.
Four adults, later identified as Gary Siders Sr., Gary Siders Jr., Christina Siders, and Elizabeth Siders, were arrested and charged with 16 counts of endangering children, our news partners at WBNS reported.
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They all appeared virtually in court on Wednesday, pleading not guilty. Each was given a $300,000 bond.
The children’s ages range from 18 months to 18 years old. They were removed from the home and are receiving medical care. Several of them are in serious condition, with two having to be flown to hospitals.
WBNS reported that a complaint filed in court alleges that the children were abused and suffered serious physical harm. Additional details regarding the case were not provided.
“Livestock has been kept in better conditions than the children,” Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said in a press conference on Wednesday. “I believe it was typical even law enforcement has experience with homes in similar fashion. The children were kept in a 12x12 area in what seems like the last four years.”
Cain added that there was a “high presence” of bacterial and human feces in the home.
Authorities also said that some of the children didn’t know how to speak, read, or write.
In an update, officials said the case was isolated to this family, adding that the suspects were the grandmother, grandfather, mother and father.
Wilson told media on Wednesday that if law enforcement would’ve waited another 24 hours to act, there was a high chance “we’d be dealing with a death or multiple deaths.”
Governor Mike DeWine released a statement Tuesday night.
“Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson has kept me informed about the tragic situation in Vinton County. I have talked to Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain to offer any help that we might be able to provide. The Director of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Kara Wente, has been working today to assist Vinton County Children’s Services and will continue to help in the days ahead.
“It is heartbreaking to learn the conditions that these children were living in, and to learn of their medical conditions. Attorney General Wilson is an experienced prosecutor, and he has told me he has never seen anything like what he saw today. Fran and I pray for these children, and thank the children’s services workers, law enforcement officers, and medical personnel who are helping them.”
The case remains under investigation.
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