Law enforcement officials in Ohio have rescued 16 children from a property in Hamden, a village with fewer than 1,000 residents located about 60 miles southeast of Columbus. The children, ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years old, were found in a state of severe neglect, with some unable to speak and others appearing like "feral animals."
Deputies from the Vinton County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at the property on Tuesday morning, discovering conditions described as "pure evil" by investigators. The children were taken to hospital for urgent treatment, with several in serious condition, including two who were airlifted to Level I trauma centers.
Four adults, members of the Siders family, have been charged with 17 counts of child endangering, a second-degree felony. Investigators believe the children had been kept in a small room for nearly four years, surrounded by human feces, with conditions so poor that "most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children."
The defendants, including Gary Siders Jr, Gary Siders Sr, Christina Siders, and Elizabeth Siders, appeared in court and remain in custody on $300,000 bond each. Prosecutors allege that the parents and grandparents caused "serious physical harm" to the children and intend to pursue the case "to the fullest extent of the law."
Investigators are still piecing together the children's backgrounds and trying to establish where the family had been living over the years. The Siders family had lived in several Ohio counties after 2008, avoiding the creation of medical or government records.
A relative, Terri Siders, told authorities she hadn't heard from the family in at least eight years and was shocked to learn of the extent of their neglect. "I knew little Gary had kids, yeah. I don't remember meeting any of the kids, though," she said. "I knew they had a lot of kids through family talking years ago, but there's no way I thought they had that many kids."
