A first responder who helped rescue the 16 children from an Ohio home where they were allegedly left to rot like “feral animals” has revealed the heartbreaking condition they were in.
Police discovered the children on Tuesday (June 30) at a small home in Hamden after executing a search warrant linked to a separate criminal investigation that began four to six weeks earlier.
After arriving at the home, investigators uncovered what they describe as years of prolonged and extreme neglect and abuse involving children ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years old.
Officials said the kids had spent much of the last four years confined to a single 12-by-12-foot room inside the house.
First responder recalls children’s heartbreaking condition
An acting fire public information officer who drove four of the children to the hospital said the 20-minute journey was silent.
“Cockroaches and stuff like that,” he said. “Bugs just in general and the conditions, you know, bugs get on the children and stuff and they scratch, and they bite and all that stuff. So, their condition wasn’t the greatest. It was just quiet. Blank expressions.”
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson also described the children’s appearance after they were rescued. “They looked like almost feral animals,” Wilson said. “It was terrible.”
Seven of the children were taken to hospitals in Columbus, while two others were flown by helicopter.
One child remains in critical condition, according to the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said some of the children cannot communicate at all, while others have only limited speech.
None of them had been enrolled in school, and cops said the eldest child, an 18-year-old with developmental disabilities, could not even spell or write her own name.
Officials say children were hidden from public view
Authorities said they had no idea they would find 16 children when they arrived at the property.
“We didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there,” Wilson said.
Officials believe the children had been deliberately kept out of public view for years. “These folks were pretty good at hiding these kids,” he added.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said deputies were shocked by what they encountered inside the house.
“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” Cain said. “Just a disgusting scene.”
Officials are now looking into whether the family had ever been reported to children’s services agencies.
All 16 children have since been placed in the temporary custody of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.
Neighbor says he never knew children lived there
The discovery also shocked neighbors, including Joseph Stewart, who lives just three houses away.
“I saw no kids at all” since the family moved into the home, Stewart told The Associated Press, explaining that he could clearly see the house and yard whenever he walked past. “It’s a sad situation,” he added.
The property sits beside a steep railroad embankment, with neighboring homes separated by trees and dense brush.
On Wednesday, investigators left the home’s windows and doors open as they continued collecting evidence.
Trash could be seen throughout the property, while the yard contained piles of discarded items, including tires, a high chair, two broken bicycles, a plastic play table, a beach pail, and two infant carriers.
Four family members charged
The children’s parents, Gary Siders Jr. and Christina Siders, along with grandparents Gary Siders Sr. and Elizabeth Siders, have each been charged with multiple counts of child endangerment.
Prosecutors said the charges are second-degree felonies because the allegations involve “serious physical harm.”
The four defendants pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and were each ordered to be held on $300,000 bond.
On Thursday, Gary Siders Sr.’s attorney, Dorian Keith Baum, urged the public not to rush to judgment in a statement with WSYX: “While this case has quite obviously received intense media attention and the accompanying speculation across the internet that comes with any story of that nature, the reality is that we are just at the beginning stages of this case.”
“There has not even been an Indictment filed against Mr. Siders yet, merely a Complaint, and then a day later an Amended Complaint containing one fewer Count than the Complaint the previous day, which speaks to the extremely preliminary stage we are at.”
“It has not escaped our notice that the State apparatus — from multiple State and local political figures, to the interim State Attorney General, to the very prosecutor who is going to be presenting this case — have taken every opportunity to attempt to pre-try this case in the Court of public opinion.”
“However, it is also important to remember that Mr. Siders is entitled to the same presumption of innocence that every person charged in this county should and does enjoy, so while there is little ability to stop all speculation, conjecture, or uncorroborated guess-work from taking place, I would ask that we all let the process play out, irrespective of the sensationalist underpinnings of the allegations against Mr. Siders, so that we as his defense counsel can be provided with whatever evidence the State allegedly has in order to give it a thorough review and determine if the State can meet their burden of proof; or, alternatively, if Mr. Siders is actually not guilty of what is being alleged,” Baum added.
