Case Files: More than 200 pages of newly released records reveal d!sturbing new details about the Siders family members accused in the Ohio case
Publicly available records provide minimal information about four adults accused of keeping 16 children in conditions likened to a third-world country and abusing them for years.
Gary Siders Sr., 73, Gary Siders Jr., 36, Elizabeth Siders, 33, and Catherine Siders, 67, are each facing 16 counts of felony endangering children in Vinton County Common Pleas Court.
The charges accuse the Siders of child endangerment involving the children, who range in age from about 18 months old to 18 years old.
The filings against the Siders do not detail specific allegations. Each charge is connected to a specific child, who is identified by their initials and date of birth.
The language used by prosecutors to detail the charges is language taken straight from the Ohio Revised Code.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Vinton County officials said the children are believed to have lived in an approximately 12-foot by 12-foot space inside the five-room, wood-frame home where they’ve spent the majority of the last four years.
Did anyone track the Siders children being born?
Wilson said there were no indicators that any of the 16 children were born inside the Ohmer Street home. He said third-party information helped them to confirm birth dates, but he did not specify what that information was.
Birth certificates are not visible publicly on Ohio Department of Health websites statewide.
Wilson said the family is believed to have been living in Vinton County for about four years. He also said the family had moved around southeastern Ohio and potentially lived in Wisconsin.
Publicly available records show the family had ties to Gallia County.
Mason County, West Virginia, public records show Elizabeth Russell, then 15 years old, married Gary Siders Jr., who was 19 years old, in March 2008.
The oldest child identified in court records as being an alleged victim was born in May 2008. Mason County is situated directly across the Ohio River from Gallia County.
Do the Siders have criminal pasts?
Records show no significant previous criminal history for three of the four adults charged.
An unrelated warrant was issued June 29 – the day before the search warrant raid on the home – for Gary Siders Jr. on four misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, accusing him of exposing himself two times on May 23 and once each on May 27 and 29 at the Ohmer Street home to people “not members of his household.” He had pleaded not guilty to those charges.
In 2017, Siders Jr. received a citation for not having a booster seat for a child. He was issued a fine in Gallipolis Municipal Court, which was suspended, according to court records.
Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders both had several traffic violations and several small civil claims against them that occurred more than 20 years ago. Two of the traffic offenses involving Siders Sr. were convictions for driving under the influence.
Elizabeth Siders has no documented criminal history at all.
Wilson said an unconnected, parallel investigation into the Siders’ home in Hamden had been going on for about a month to six weeks when the June 30 search warrant was executed. Investigators did not know there would be children inside the residence, he said.
Details about the other investigation, which Wilson said involves the Ohio Bureau of Investigation, have not been released.
Applications for search warrants and supporting affidavits filed related to those warrants have been sealed by Vinton County courts, officials told The Dispatch.
