Overview
- Law enforcement executing a search warrant on June 30 found 16 children, ages about 18 months to 18 years, living together in a single small room at a Hamden, Ohio residence.
- Four adults who lived in the house—Elizabeth Siders, her husband Gary Siders Jr., and his parents—have been arrested and charged with multiple counts of felony child endangerment.
- Officials say many children were thin, covered in bug bites and scratches, and showed profound developmental or communication delays; all 16 remain in state custody receiving medical and therapeutic care.
- The state has approved roughly $1 million in emergency funding to cover hospital care, foster placements, and related costs as prosecutors gather evidence and seek grand‑jury review.
- Defense counsel for Gary Siders Jr. has filed for a psychiatric competency evaluation and to seal supporting records, and courts have issued gag orders that limit public disclosure as investigators reconstruct missing school and medical records.