House of Horrors in Ohio: Shocking New Details REVEALED

[0:00] It looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible. [0:04] 16 children, a filthy house, and a secret investigation. [0:08] We're learning more about the Siders family in Ohio, the children who were found in the home, [0:14] and what family members of the mother of the children are saying after the arrest. [0:18] Plus, the attorney for one of the family members is here. [0:22] We don't have all of the evidence. [0:24] We don't have anything that's showing that these kids were locked in a basement or anything of that nature. [0:28] This is not what people are trying to portray. [0:32] Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. [0:42] It's been nearly a week since sheriff's deputies and state agents went into a home in rural Ohio to execute a search warrant [0:49] and found 16 children in a room that was described as filthy. [0:54] Those 16 children are the daughters and sons of Gary Lee Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders. [1:00] They are facing 16 counts of child endangering, and Gary Jr.'s parents, Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders, are facing the same charges. [1:10] The state's attorney general, the Vinton County prosecutor, and the sheriff described the conditions in the home [1:15] as filthy with feces and bugs in the 12-by-12 room where they say these children were kept. [1:21] Some of these children couldn't even speak. [1:24] Yeah, so, I mean, we're talking, this is very, it was terrible. [1:31] I mean, they really, they looked, it looked like almost feral animals. [1:36] It was terrible. [1:37] So when we're talking reading and writing and education, we're talking a whole other level of expectations here. [1:44] The children range in age from one and a half to 18. [1:47] Two were taken to level one trauma centers. [1:49] The others were treated and released from a number of hospitals and then placed in foster homes. [1:55] The home on Omer Street is roped off by crime scene tape to keep people out. [2:00] The sheriff isn't commenting on what crime law enforcement was investigating [2:04] when they went to the home on June 30th to execute that search warrant, [2:08] and the documents related to it are sealed. [2:11] It's only been referred to as a parallel investigation. [2:14] But there are a lot of questions about how a family of four could keep children hidden away from the world, and why. [2:22] The sheriff says there were 16 children in that house. [2:25] Records from Mason County, West Virginia, show that Gary Jr. and Elizabeth Russell were married on March 31st, 2008. [2:34] Court documents show the couple had a child a short time later on May 30th, 2008. [2:39] Now, you might be wondering, why would Elizabeth and Gary Jr. go to West Virginia to get married? [2:44] Well, in Ohio, you have to be 18 to get married. [2:47] You can be 17, but you have to have parental consent and then meet a bunch of other strict guidelines, [2:53] jump through a lot of hoops. [2:55] Elizabeth Siders was 15 when she married Gary Siders Jr. [2:58] Court records show that Elizabeth Siders was pregnant nearly every year from 2008 through 2025. [3:06] She had children in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, [3:19] and then twins, it appears, in 2022, 2024, and 2025. [3:24] There may have been more children born to the couple in that time that were stillborn. [3:29] I'm still working to actually confirm that information. [3:32] Law enforcement said the Siders moved from county to county and even spent time in Wisconsin, [3:37] and I've learned that children's services may have visited the family in one Ohio county, [3:43] but then the Siders moved, I'm told, to keep the children from being taken away from them. [3:48] The Siders, according to the sheriff, have lived in the house on Omer Street in Vinton County for the last four years. [3:53] Elizabeth Siders doesn't appear to have social media accounts, but Gary Jr. does. [3:58] On June 5, 2014, Gary Siders posted on Facebook, [4:03] This is Elizabeth. I don't want anyone putting pictures of me on Facebook, everyone. [4:08] If you have any pictures of me on here, please take them off of here. [4:12] Elizabeth's mother wanted to have contact with her daughter. [4:15] She even wished her a happy birthday in 2020. [4:18] Elizabeth's mom wrote, [4:20] The photo she posted of Elizabeth shows her with much lighter hair, and she looks healthier. [4:32] We don't know the date that that photo was taken. [4:35] Another family member posted these photos of Elizabeth, claiming she took them when Elizabeth was 13. [4:41] That was the last time that family member said that she actually saw Elizabeth. [4:45] Now, this raises a lot of questions. [4:47] How was a 15-year-old girl able to run off with a guy who's three years older than she is and get married? [4:53] And why? [4:54] Elizabeth's brother, Jeremy, posted on Facebook on June 30th, [4:57] My sister just wrapped her life up. [5:00] Due to indoctrination, it is 100% real. [5:04] 20 kids and younger than me. [5:06] The math equals immature piece of you-know-what man involved. [5:11] I met this dude a couple of months ago. [5:13] Shook my hand like a baby would. [5:15] Super soft hands. [5:16] Definitely never worked a day in his life. [5:19] I should have took him out that night. [5:21] I was thinking about it, but my sister, I was happy to see. [5:24] Been 15 years. [5:26] You lost touch with your family, followed another. [5:29] Look what happened. [5:30] Now, I reached out to Jeremy Russell, but at the time of this recording, I haven't heard back from him. [5:34] On Sunday, Jeremy Russell then wrote, [5:37] Got a lot of Facebook investigators. [5:39] LOL. [5:39] You're in for a ride. [5:41] I've been telling you all. [5:42] My remorse, I don't care. [5:44] I really don't. [5:45] That's sad. [5:46] I tried many times. [5:47] Asked my ex. [5:48] She knows. [5:49] I was the one harassing. [5:51] I love my sister. [5:52] However, everyone knew about it. [5:54] I told everyone, welfare supporters to the maximum. [5:58] So state knows something. [6:00] I don't get it. [6:01] Just leave me alone. [6:02] So Elizabeth's brother claims that everyone knew about the children. [6:05] To what extent they knew about them and the conditions they were living in isn't clear. [6:10] But he's also implying that the state, or at least Children's Services, which is called Job and Family Services, knew something about the children. [6:18] Did you have the opportunity to read that complaint? [6:21] All four Siders face second-degree felony child-endangering charges, including the grandparents, Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders. [6:33] They've pleaded not guilty to the charges. [6:35] When the arrests were made last week, law enforcement said the children hadn't been to school and couldn't read or write. [6:41] The oldest couldn't spell her name. [6:43] But one of Elizabeth Siders' brothers is disputing that his oldest nieces are illiterate, even posting screen grabs from social media accounts attributed to them. [6:53] Joey Russell posted on Facebook, [6:54] Now, how the teenage girls were able to post on social media isn't clear. [7:22] Did they have phones, an iPad, a laptop? [7:24] We don't know. [7:25] Then another family member posted on Facebook on the 4th of July, [7:30] While part of me wonders if she, meaning Elizabeth, wasn't mentally conditioned to think this was okay, [7:36] the mom in me knows it doesn't matter because there's absolutely no excuse for dragging your kids or any human through your BS to this degree. [7:45] In my opinion, she's guilty to an extent simply because she is an adult. [7:49] The justice system will handle the situation however it sees fit. [7:53] I'm cool with that, but I feel like this also needs to be said. [7:56] Lots of people failed those babies and they continue to fail lots of others all over and keep the pattern continuing by not intervening when things aren't quite right. [8:07] Kind of like, see something, say something, or even, you know, see something, do something. [8:13] People all over the USA right now keep saying, oh my god, how did this even happen? [8:18] Most people can't fathom, and I really wish I couldn't either, but here's my idea. [8:22] While the parents and grandparents of the children are in jail facing serious felony charges, [8:38] Gary Siders Jr. also faces four misdemeanor counts of public indecency. [8:43] Court records state that Gary Siders Jr. did recklessly expose his private parts under circumstances in which his conduct was likely to be viewed by an affront of others who are in Gary Siders' physical proximity and who are not members of his household. [8:59] Now, these alleged incidents happened four times between May 23rd and May 31st, according to court documents. [9:05] Gary Jr. has pleaded not guilty to those charges and the child endangering charges. [9:10] How do you plead? Yes. I will enter a not guilty plea for you at this time then, and you can confer with counsel. [9:24] Okay? Mr. Siders, would you like me to enter a not guilty plea for you as well? [9:30] Until you have a chance to speak with an attorney, I will do that. [9:41] So let's turn now to Dorian Baum. He is an attorney representing Gary Siders Sr. [9:48] That is the grandfather in this family. Dorian, thanks so much for coming on. [9:54] You haven't met with your client yet. Tell me a little bit about why, and have you even been able to speak with Gary Siders Sr. on the phone? [10:05] Yeah, thanks. Again, thanks for having me. [10:07] So unfortunately, because of the holiday weekend, the jail was actually not permitting people to come in and visit with inmates. [10:15] That includes attorneys. So the first opportunity, and that actually includes today as well. [10:20] So unfortunately, the first opportunity we'll have to meet with Mr. Siders will be tomorrow. [10:26] So my intent is to get down there and see him as soon as possible tomorrow. [10:29] Your client, along with his family members, is facing, you know, 16 felony counts, second-degree felonies of child endangering. [10:42] It's been described as a really awful place where these children were being kept, a 12-by-12 room. [10:48] The sheriff, I believe, said there were feces all around. There were flies on the kids. [10:54] Like, the sheriff said livestock are kept better than these children. [11:00] What is your response to that? [11:02] Well, I would say there's multiple responses. [11:05] The first one, I do want to clarify for anyone who might be seeing this. [11:08] They're currently facing a complaint with 16 charges, which is actually an amended complaint from an original complaint that was 17 charges. [11:15] And that complaint, you know, in the state of Ohio, you have the right to a grand jury proceeding, [11:19] whereby you have to present facts to a grand jury, and a grand jury will return an indictment if they think there's probable cause. [11:25] So at this point, they're facing criminal charges in a complaint, but that is not what the state can proceed forward on if they were to go to trial. [11:34] So first and foremost, the state still already has that extra hurdle to get over. [11:39] Now, naturally, you know, getting past the grand jury hurdle is not always that difficult, [11:44] but it's not unusual for a complaint to show a certain number of charges or a degree of charges, [11:50] and then once they get to the grand jury, it becomes something vastly different. [11:54] So we'll have to see what happens when they get to grand jury. [11:57] That's the first thing. [11:58] The second one is... [11:59] And that's a really low bar. [12:01] It's a probable cause. [12:03] Absolutely. [12:03] This is the bar at a grand jury. [12:04] It's a low bar, but to say that I haven't seen no bills or that you see charges at the complaint stage as felonious assault, for instance, [12:14] and by the time you get to a grand jury, maybe it's only aggravated assault, which is two full degrees less. [12:18] So it is... [12:19] You're right. [12:20] It is a low bar, but to say it's not a bar at all would not be correct. [12:24] So that's the first thing. [12:25] Second thing is the state has provided what can only be described as a modicum of the evidence. [12:31] We have gotten so, so little from the state at this point. [12:36] As has been reported, we've already filed for discovery. [12:39] We're asking for the state to provide it to us. [12:41] I've had some minimal communications with the state. [12:44] But from what I've seen, to be perfectly blunt, [12:48] when I see a press conference where the state AG is making these hyperbolic, extravagant statements about what he saw, [12:57] where the sheriff is talking about livestock, is just simply, it's beyond disingenuous, frankly. [13:04] It appears to me, from what I understand, that these people are really just trying to criminalize poverty and extremely impoverished family. [13:11] As many people in the media have already noted and have already discovered, [13:16] the kids who have been described as feral, been described as illiterate, [13:22] it's my understanding that as the internet does what it does, [13:26] it's come out that these older kids had social media pages, Facebook pages, Snapchat pages, [13:31] which speaks to a couple of things. [13:32] Number one, if they're so illiterate, how are they posting things online? [13:35] Number two, if these are kids who are trapped in this place, [13:38] how are they able to have, typically when you see cases where people are trapped [13:43] or they're not allowed to go do things freely, [13:46] they're not given internet access, they're not given social media pages. [13:51] Furthermore, I've seen the inside of this house. [13:54] I'm pretty sure that the state AG did not see the inside of this house [13:58] because when he was making these descriptive statements about what he saw or what he smelled, [14:03] I'm going to go ahead and guess that he was getting that secondhand from a number of people. [14:07] And I think for him to come out and, again, make these hyperbolic statements [14:12] without himself being really a part of it was just, frankly, inappropriate. [14:17] Well, the AG said he was outside the house. [14:20] He didn't go in. [14:22] What have you seen of the inside of the house? [14:24] Because we're just seeing the photos that were taken, [14:28] their press photos from the outside of the house. [14:30] And obviously it does look like it might be a little bit unkept. [14:35] It looks dirty. [14:37] But what have you seen that you are disputing the characterization of the 12x12 room [14:44] and the feces and everything where these kids were kept? [14:47] So, again, unfortunately, because of the very preliminary stage of the game, [14:53] everything we've been sent essentially is marked as council only, [14:56] which means I can't actually disclose full details of what I've seen. [15:00] I can, however, say that I believe the characterization is overblown. [15:06] I think when you describe that the outside was certainly unkept or was perhaps looking dirty, [15:14] I think people can look at the pictures for themselves and see that. [15:19] But it's not illegal for something to be dirty. [15:21] It's not illegal for a home to be unkempt. [15:23] If so, I would suggest there's going to be a lot more people out there with criminal charges they're facing [15:28] if simply having a few things out of place is really the standard. [15:31] And that's not the standard for felonious, for a secondary felony child endangering. [15:35] So, you know, they have quite the burden, I think, to show what they have been describing [15:42] in their various news conferences and press releases, et cetera. [15:46] And I think having some pictures of a place being dirty is not going to cut it. [15:51] Well, they said they were in a 12x12 room, though, with feces and flies all over the place. [15:56] So, I mean, that's pretty gross. [15:59] And two of them were taken to a level one trauma center. [16:02] So that's pretty serious. [16:03] I know the other children were treated and released from area hospitals. [16:08] That's right. [16:08] And so, again, you know, that at this point, we haven't gotten any documentation to show [16:12] where they've been taken, what the basis for their hospitalization was, if, in fact, they were hospitalized. [16:18] I don't know what the status is of these children because, again, the state hasn't shared that information with us. [16:24] So, you know, there was clearly a lot of children there. [16:28] And I'm not going to come out here and suggest that I know exactly what was going on there because I don't. [16:32] And that's really the main point, of course, isn't it, that none of us were there. [16:36] None of us were living there. [16:38] You know, the state did, I will say this, to his credit, Prosecutor Archer, who is the county prosecutor down there, [16:46] was very specific in saying that this was not an alleged trafficking case. [16:49] But there's rumors that are flying everywhere about what was going on with these kids, [16:53] what was happening to these children, whether there was other specific bits of abuse going on. [16:59] And to date, I've seen no actual hard evidence to show there was any specific abuse that was being done to these children. [17:06] And, again, whether the question is that these children were in a home that was dirty and that rises to the level of child endangering, [17:14] whether it rises to a certain felony level, that's something the state's going to have to prove, obviously, beyond a reasonable doubt. [17:18] But, you know, I wasn't in this home. [17:21] I personally wasn't in this home. [17:23] And that's why I'm not going to speak to what it smelled like or looked like, specifically. [17:27] But we don't have all of the evidence. [17:30] We don't have anything that's showing that these kids were locked in a basement or anything of that nature. [17:35] This is not what people are trying to portray as a case where these kids were, you know, chained in the basement or something like that, [17:42] something extravagant like you might see in a horror film. [17:45] It wasn't that. [17:45] That wasn't the situation, as far as my understanding. [17:48] So I think, again, we all need to take a step back and let the facts actually bear out. [17:53] So your client, Gary Sider Sr., we saw him when he was in court for his initial appearance, and he was in a wheelchair. [18:06] Do you know anything about your client, about his physical state, his health, his mental state? [18:14] Frankly, I've seen what you've seen, which is I saw it appears that he has limited mobility. [18:20] My understanding is that he had difficulty hearing. [18:24] It also seemed to be a difficulty understanding the judge. [18:27] So I have some of the same concerns that anyone else might have looking at a person whose competence might be in question. [18:33] As anyone who knows anything about the law knows, the very first step is to ensure that your client is competent. [18:39] You can't move forward otherwise. [18:40] So one of the basic tenets of my criminal defense of Mr. Sider is going to make sure that he's competent to even stand trial, let alone any of the other defenses of my arrays. [18:51] So I guess the short answer is no, I haven't been able to talk to him yet. [18:55] I don't know anything other than what everyone else has seen, which is what happened at the arraignment, what took place there, et cetera, et cetera. [19:01] Tommy Stolley, the attorney for Elizabeth Siders, I saw him in an interview, and he said that her first question was, you know, where are my kids? [19:12] She wanted to know where her children were. [19:14] It wasn't how much time am I facing or anything like that. [19:18] Have you had any discussions with the other attorneys in this case regarding their clients and their reactions to this? [19:26] Yeah, I mean, I've had some, again, brief initial discussions with the other attorneys. [19:32] You know, at this point, it's obviously we are all representing the individual interests of our individual clients, but they are a family. [19:40] So it's my gut feeling that in many cases their interests will overlap. [19:44] So I have had some discussions with the other attorneys, specifically, again, about some of that very preliminary discovery that we've all received and what our general thoughts are. [19:54] I sort of make it a point not to talk to other attorneys about their client attorney conversations, as that is, of course, privileged information and confidential. [20:02] But it's not surprising to me that a mother would ask about the condition of her children, bearing in mind that, you know, these are people minding their own business and a litany of officers come rushing in with guns and arrest them. [20:17] Don't let them, you know, check on their kids first. [20:20] I can imagine someone like that being concerned about their children. [20:23] Gary Siders Jr., your client's son, faces four counts of public indecency. [20:30] He's accused of exposing himself at the house to people who were not his family. [20:36] We know about that, but law enforcement has been tight-lipped about what initially brought them to that house, the search warrant that was being executed. [20:45] Those documents are sealed. [20:46] Do you know anything about this parallel investigation that brought Ohio BCI and the Sheriff's Department to the Siders' home? [20:55] Unfortunately, I don't. [20:57] And as you sort of alluded to, it would seem pretty odd for a couple of misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure to generate the type of response that happened at this house. [21:09] I would also be very interested to see what this search warrant said, what the basis for the search warrant was, how they were able to obtain such a search warrant, because I have a hard time believing, first of all, if all it was was an arrest warrant, then none of this could have happened. [21:26] So clearly it wasn't just those charges, because if it were, they would have a simple arrest warrant. [21:30] They would ask for Mr. Siders Jr. to come out, and that would have been the end of it. [21:33] So obviously there was more there. [21:36] I'm sure that I and all of my other colleagues who are representing the co-defendants will all be very interested to see what the basis for the search warrant was. [21:45] So your next step, obviously, is to go to the jail in southeast Ohio, meet with Gary Siders Sr., and meet your client and talk to him and see what he has to say. [21:57] Absolutely. [21:57] Yeah. [21:58] I mean, the first step, again, is ensuring that he is competent. [22:01] That's going to be a concern just based on what I myself have been able to view in the public, and the same thing the public has seen. [22:08] And then make sure I explain to him the process, the procedure. [22:12] You know, I don't really know what Mr. Siders' criminal history is like or what involvement he's had with the court system. [22:19] So after I determine he is competent, if in fact he is, which, again, that is a question at this point, but if I'm able to determine that he is competent, and even if he's not, my best attempt is going to be to explain the process, the procedure, what the next steps are. [22:32] And again, as we sort of talked about earlier, the state's burden to go before a grand jury and bring some sort of evidence to attempt to get an indictment. [22:41] Well, we'll keep an eye on it. [22:45] We're as interested as you are, and we might be more interested, but we're interested to learn what the basis for the search warrant was, why they went in there, the actual condition of the children, and much more. [22:58] Dorian Baum, thank you so much for joining me, and I appreciate your time. [23:02] Thank you. [23:02] I appreciate having me on here. [23:03] I'll be happy to talk with you again. [23:04] The four Siders family members remain in the regional jail in southeast Ohio. [23:10] Each is being held on a $300,000 bond. [23:12] No word yet on whether more charges could be coming, but the prosecutor left open that possibility all of the Siders have pleaded not guilty to these child endangering charges. [23:23] So stay tuned. [23:23] We'll keep an eye on this case for you. [23:25] And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. [23:27] I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. [23:28] Thanks so much for being with me. [23:30] I'll see you back here next time.