On Tuesday, police in Hamden, a small town with a population of less than 1,000, rescued 16 children from a home. According to the latest reports, the children are all the family’s biological offspring, and there was no evidence of human trafficking. Police obtained a search warrant while investigating an unrelated case and raided the remote rural residence.
The scene shocked them; even experienced investigators found it unbearable. “It’s disgusting!” The 16 children ranged in age from 18 months to 18 years old and included both boys and girls. They were crammed into a room that was about 12 feet by 12 feet (about 3.66 meters by 3.66 meters) and filled with human faeces. Investigators angrily stated that the children were treated like wild animals.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain, whose county includes the area, bluntly stated, ” Most of our livestock live better conditions than them.” And that’s indeed the case. The oldest girl is almost 18, but she has severe developmental disabilities and can’t even spell her own name.
Several other children are also unable to speak. When they were found, several of them were in serious condition; two children had to be airlifted to a Level 1 trauma centre for emergency treatment. One of the children was in critical condition on Tuesday and required intubation to keep breathing.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described the environment in which the children were living as “horrific” and “pure evil. “He had never seen a worse case in his entire career. “This is something we almost never see in the United States,” Wilson said, adding that even nearly 24 hours after the incident, “ the smell still lingered on me.”
Four members of the Siders family involved in the incident have been arrested: the children’s parents, Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders, and their grandparents, Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders. They are each charged with 17 counts of second-degree felony endangering children. Whatever their purpose, the family had been deliberately hiding the children for years, keeping them out of the sight of investigators. It seems that no one outside this family knows about the children’s existence.
Terri Siders, a relative of the Siders family, had heard many years ago that Gary Siders Jr. had children, but he never imagined that he had 16, and he had never met any of them. Furthermore, she had not heard from this family for at least eight years. This family has been moving between several counties in Ohio since 2008, deliberately avoiding establishing medical records or government registration. The children have also never enrolled in school.
The family had been living in Hamden for several years, and their neighbours had no idea they had a child. Neighbour Joseph Stewart said he “hasn’t seen any of the children” since the family moved in. The four men were arraigned Wednesday morning in Wenton County General Court and remain in custody, with bail set at $300,000 each.
The Ohio state government is applying for temporary guardianship of all 16 children. “These children will definitely receive justice.”