MCARTHUR, Ohio (Court TV) — Three people accused of abusing more than a dozen children in “horrific” conditions have been ordered to undergo mental evaluations.
Clockwise, from top left: Elizabeth Siders, Christina Siders, Gary Siders II and Gary Siders. (Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail)
Gary Siders, 73, Christina Siders, 67, and Gary Siders II, 36, are each charged with 17 counts of endangering children after investigators said they abused 16 children in their care.
Detectives initially went to the Siders’ home in Ohio to serve search warrants in an unrelated case and were shocked to find the 16 kids inside. “What investigators encountered was pure evil,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said in a statement after the children were found. “The conditions these children lived in were horrific, and we are sickened by it,” Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said.
Search warrants in the case have been sealed, but when Court TV’s cameras visited the family’s home, piles of trash were heaped next to children’s bikes outside the dilapidated home.
In a motion filed Wednesday seeking to reduce her bond, Christina Siders described investigators’ statements as “hyperbolic.” The motion says that Christina Siders lived in the home with her husband, son and daughter-in-law and that the only issue police found was “unsanitary conditions in the home.”
“There is no allegation that Defendant used or had access to a weapon, nor that Defendant committed any acts of violence against any alleged victim,” Christina Siders’ attorney wrote. “Rather, it is evident that Defendant was the only adult in the home who had long been providing for all the other adults and the children residing in her home. Defendant paid for rent, utilities and other necessities in the home. Despite her own medical conditions, Defendant was also tasked with caring for her husband and his significant medical needs and physical limitations.”
Trash is piled outside of the home where four members of the Siders family allegedly lived with 16 children. (Court TV)
While each of the defendants has their own case, attorneys representing the three filed motions asking doctors to evaluate their competency. The filings, which do not list any details, state that the attorneys do not feel the defendants are able to comprehend the courtroom proceedings and are unable to assist in their respective defenses.
Gary Siders’ motion asks that a doctor evaluate not only his current competency but also whether he may have been legally insane when he allegedly neglected the children in his care.
A fourth person, Elizabeth Siders, 33, is also facing neglect charges in the case but has not asked for a competency evaluation. Her attorney has previously said that Siders was the mother of all 16 children.
All four defendants remain in jail on $300,000 bonds.
