Authorities reveal upsetting detail about one of 16 'feral' children saved from ‘house of horrors’
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
An 18-year-old who was removed from a house in Ohio alongside her 15 siblings after being found living in ‘disgusting’ conditions could not spell her own name, authorities have said.
On 30 June, deputies from Vinton County Sheriff’s Office visited a house in Hamden for an unrelated warrant for Gary Siders Jr., 38.
However, once they arrived at the property officers were left horrified after seeing the conditions the 16 children, aged between 18 and 18 months, were living in.
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During a news conference on 1 July, Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said the force didn't know that 16 children were going to be at the property when they visited the home.
“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children. It was just a disgusting scene,” he said.
Attorney General Andy Wilson said the children were in such bad condition they looked ‘like almost feral animals’.
Four adults, Siders Jr., his wife Elizabeth, 33, and his parents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christine, 67, were all arrested and are now each facing 16 counts of child endangerment.
It’s believed that the children were kept in a roughly 12-by-12-foot room for most of the past four years.
Officials have since given further details on the case, which has been dubbed the ‘Ohio House of Horrors’.
According to Cain, several of the children were in need of medical treatment, including two who had to be flown to hospital.
Authorities said none of the children had been enrolled in school and that the eldest daughter, who is 18, was unable to write her own name.
The adult Siders were originally being held on (£224,482) cash bonds, but on Wednesday (8 July) Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer announced at a press conference that Gary Siders Sr. had now been released on a recognisance bond following a medical emergency which resulted in him having to be hospitalised.
A recognisance bond or Personal Recognisance/PR bond allows an arrested person to leave jail without paying money.
Elizabeth’s lawyer Tommy Stolley has filed a motion to have Elizabeth’s $300,000 modified to a recognisance bond, saying she cannot afford to pay it.
Stolley has also pushed back at some of the claims made, arguing that his client is not ‘pure evil’.
In an interview with 10TV he said there was ‘no evidence’ to suggest the children were forced to stay inside a 12-by-12 foot room.
“There's no indication that the kids were not free to move about the home. There's no indication from my conversations with my client that the kids were not allowed to go outside,” he said.
He also said that Elizabeth told him her kids had phones and that the older one had been on social media.
"I think the big thing with that is it doesn't jive with the way that this case has been characterised in the public," Stolley said.
"When you use language like feral kids, you're imagining people that have been isolated away from human contact. People who have never interacted with any sort of social media, with the internet, with humans outside of their own home, or even humans in general, who completely lack the ability to use language.
“There's nothing to suggest that that is the case here. And in fact, we've seen some things to contradict that.”
A timeline of the allegations against the Siders family
31 March 2008
Gary Siders Jr, 18, and Elizabeth Siders, 15, are married in Mason County, West Virginia with the consent of Elizabeth’s parents
30 May 2008
The couple’s eldest child is born. More children are born in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022 (twins), 2024 (twins), and 2025.
2021
The superintendent of the Gallia County Local Schools in southeast Ohio told WSAZ3 there are records from this year showing Gary Jr. and Elizabeth were parents with a local school at the time.
10 November 2022
Elizabeth Siders prematurely delivers conjoined twins, who die an hour after they are born. Named Faith Lee and Bailey Lee Siders, they were joined at the chest, face-to-face, according to birth certificates obtained by WCMH.
2022
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said the Siders family moved to Vinton County, again in southeast Ohio, around this time.
23 and 27 May 2026
A criminal complaint against Gary Siders Jr accused him of ‘recklessly exposing his private parts’ on two occasions on these dates.
30 June 2026
An arrest warrant is issued for Gary Siders Jr related to four alleged counts of public indecency.
Police attend the Siders’ home in relation to this investigation and find 16 children living in what police describe as deplorable conditions.
Authorities claim the children were confined to a 12-foot by 12-foot space for four years.
Gary Siders Sr, 73, Christina Siders, 67, Gary Siders Jr, 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, are arrested and charged with 16 counts of endangering children, second degree felonies. All have since entered not guilty pleas.
3 July 2026
In an interview with WSYX ABC 6, Elizabeth Siders’ lawyer Thomas Stolly said on meeting his client for the first time: “I met a woman who was timid and who was exhausted. It looked like she had been crying quite a bit. She looked distraught.”
When asked if Elizabeth is also a victim in the case, he says: “I don’t think she would classify herself as a victim.”
He says the initial coverage of conditions at the Siders’ home is ‘not the whole story’.
7 July 2026
All four of the defendants waive their right to a preliminary hearing, meaning the case will now go before a grand jury.
They will decide whether to indict the four accused family members.
On the same day, Gary Sr.’s legal team ask for his $300,000 bail to be waived. They argue it is excessive, saying the 73-year-old has ‘significant health issues’ and ‘very limited mobility’, and doesn’t have the capacity to post any bail money.
His lawyer, Dorian Keith Baum, says Gary Sr. ‘has denied any and all allegations against him’ and has ‘a vested interest… to clear his name’.
Baum also says he has concerns about Gary Sr’s competency to stand trial.
That day, Gary Sr. is transported to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital in Athens. If released from hospital, he will be required to wear a GPS monitor. His bond is changed to a recognisance bond, which means he doesn’t have to pay the money upfront.
Topics: US News
Claire Reid