The defense team of grandad Gary Siders Sr plans to ask the judge for a mental competency evaluation for their client after the 16 children were found living in ‘feral’ conditions

Police tape surrounds a home and debris is seen on the front lawn, including baby carrier, where authorities say they removed 16 children and arrested four adults in Hamden, Ohio, Wednesday, July 1, 2026.
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Police tape surrounds a home and debris is seen on the front lawn, including baby carrier, where authorities say they removed 16 children (Image: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The attorney defending the grandfather of the 16 children rescued from the Ohio ‘house of horrors’ has offered a bold new theory behind the alleged crimes.

Authorities rescued the 16 siblings from what officials called “deplorable” conditions. The children ranged from ages 1.5 to 18 and included both boys and girls, officials said. Several were in serious conditions when found, and two had to be flown to level one trauma centers because of their injuries.

73-year-old Gary Siders Sr. is charged with felony child endangerment. Also charged were his 67-year-old wife, Christina Siders; son Gary Siders Jr., 36; and daughter-in-law, 33-year-old Elizabeth Siders, the children’s mother. They have pleaded not guilty, and some of their attorneys cautioned against drawing conclusions before more is known about what happened.

But Siders Sr’s lawyer is speaking out in his defense. “Everyone should take a deep breath and step back because unfortunately, when all this comes out, (what) we’re going to see is a state entity which is criminalizing poverty and little more,” attorney Dorian Baum told NewsNation local affiliate WCMH.

The defense team plans to ask the judge for a mental competency evaluation for Siders Sr.

At the time of the arrests, investigators couldn’t reach certain parts of the home because of the amount of garbage inside, with the children living there looking “almost feral,” according to Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson.

Gary Siders Sr.

A worker has shared her horror after interacting with 16 children who were like ‘feral animals’ in a shocking case.

The woman, who works in a Dollar General store near to where the children were found, has shared her recollections of dealing with one of the children.

It comes after 16 of them were found living in terrible conditions in Ohio, in a faeces-covered room, in a horrifying neglect case.

Several of the children were found to be unable to speak.

The witness, Ariel Gutierrez, worked at the local store where the Siders family were regular late-night customers.

She told local press how they would come in most nights just before the store closed, to buy things like water, vegetable oil and sugar.
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Gary Siders snr was taken to hospital earlier this month after suffering a fall (Image: Southeast Ohio Jail)

But Baum hit back against the statements saying Wilson was sensationalizing the case before Siders had even been indicted.

“This is not a matter that the AG should have stuck his nose in because everything from these videos to other evidence that I’ve been privy to, minimally pre-indictment, is that the AG didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, period. End of story,” Baum said.

Removing the 16 siblings from their home also instantly more than doubled the number of children in temporary custody in Vinton County — a daunting prospect for a county with about 12,600 residents and the smallest budget among Ohio’s 88 counties.

Gary Siders snr
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Gary Siders snr is the grandfather of 16 children rescued from a home left in appalling conditions (Image: WSYX)

The Siders children ranged in age from 18 months to 18 years, and some were described as “feral” and unable to speak. Authorities said their medical conditions varied and alleged that they had been kept in about a 12-foot-by-12-foot room for several years. Two were flown for hospital care.

The eldest was born in May 2008, two months after then-18-year-old Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth, who was 15, crossed the state line to get married at the Mason County Courthouse in West Virginia with the consent of Elizabeth’s parents, according to court records. She’s had pregnancies most years since then, the records show.

This combination of undated booking photos provided by Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, shows, clockwise starting at top left, Gary Siders Sr., Christine Siders, Elizabeth Siders and Gary Siders Jr. (Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail via AP)
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Four members of the Siders family were arrested (Image: Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail)

The 16 Siders siblings at the center of the endangerment case were all born in hospitals, according to birth certificates. Among them are three sets of twins. Elizabeth Siders also had a fourth set of twins in 2022, records show, who died hours after birth.