COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — At a press event held in Vinton County, Attorney General Andy Wilson teamed up with Sheriff Ryan Cain to address the public about a significant investigation involving the alleged abuse and victimization of 16 children. The officials indicated that the inquiry may require extended time due to several challenging factors.
A primary concern is the reported limited communication abilities of the children, with authorities at one point describing them as being alarmingly “feral.”
Certain details remain unclear, such as whether these children received any formal education, and how they could have stayed hidden in a residence for nearly four years. According to Wilson, it is suspected that the majority of these children were confined in a 12-by-12 room located on Ohmer Street in the Village of Hamden, Ohio, a short distance from Wellston.
The arrested individuals include Gary Siders (73), Christina Siders (66), Gary Siders II (36), and Elizabeth Siders (33), each facing 16 charges related to child endangerment.
Nexstar’s WCMH learned from court records that the ages of the children are 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4 (twins), 2 (twins) and 1.5 years (twins). The Vinton County School District said there is no information indicating any of the children involved have been enrolled as students.
It has not yet been confirmed who the parents are of all 16 children, but Wilson said it is an intra-family case. The family of 20 lived in a home with five total rooms and one bathroom, encompassing 1,336 square feet, with an additional 518 square feet in a basement, according to Vinton County property records.
The home is part of a trust in the name of Hamden woman who died in April 2025. The house was up to date on its property tax payments, the most recent payment being paid in February in the amount of $960.88. And, according to Hamden Village Water Department, the house did have running water, with sewer and trash service all in the name of Christina Siders.
An employee with the Mason County Clerk of Courts also confirmed that on March 31, 2008, Gary Siders II and Elizabeth Siders were married at the ages of 18 and 15, respectively. The oldest child found in the home was born two months later, May 30, 2008.
Mason County borders Ohio’s Gallia County, where the Siders spent time as early as 2005, according to court records, and as late as 2017. Wilson also said the family has ties to Jackson County, Pike County and possibly Wisconsin.
The Siders adults were arrested after a warrant was issued on a case in what the sheriff’s office said was a parallel investigation. The court-authorized search warrants were part of an ongoing investigation involving allegations of domestic abuse and child neglect, but unrelated to the current case. No one knew children were present at the home.
Gary Siders II also had a warrant for his arrest stemming from an indecent exposure charge in May, according to municipal court records. That warrant was filed on Monday.
Court records show Gary Siders II is accused of exposing his private parts twice on May 23, once on May 27, and again on May 29. Records state all four incidents happened at the Ohmar Street home and involved people “who are not members of his household.”
“The house seemed abandoned,” Vinton County resident Josh O’Dell said. “It was a shock because we had never seen or heard anything from that house. I had never seen a child in that yard.”
Deputies arrived at the home and investigators had to wear masks, observing what appeared to be stacks of garbage inside the home. Wilson said the conditions were so deplorable that agents couldn’t reach certain areas in the house.
“This case continues to reveal the unimaginable conditions these children were forced to endure. I said (Wednesday) that what investigators encountered was pure evil, and the evidence we’ve uncovered since only reinforces that assessment,” Wilson said.
Vinton County prosecutor William Archer said the children are in the process of being placed in protective custody with Ohio Jobs and Family Services. No other families or children in the area are at risk, he said.
“One of the investigative challenges is that (the children) are limited. They can communicate but it’s extremely limited and some not at all,” Cain said. “The scene is horrific and these are horrific allegations.”
Archer added that the oldest child is developmentally still a minor and could not spell their name.
Several of the children were reportedly hospitalized for serious injuries, with two of them being air-lifted to trauma centers in Columbus.
All four suspects pleaded not guilty Wednesday, with three of the four having been assigned counsel as of Thursday morning. Judge Laina Fetheroff Rogers issued them a $300,000 bond apiece. Each charge carries a minimum sentence of 2-to-8 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of 12 years.
Gary Siders’ attorney, Dorian Baum, released a statement in response to an NBC4 request for comment, citing in part the early stages of the investigation and asked that the “court of public opinion” reserve judgement of his client.
“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,” Baum said. “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.”