Four Ohio adults have been indicted on 16 counts of child endangerment following the rescue of 16 children from a home in Vinton County.
The defendants pleaded not guilty.
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Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders face a maximum of 192 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
A judge set bail at $300,000 per individual.
Deplorable Living Conditions
Authorities described the scene as deplorable, comparing it to third-world conditions.
The children, aged 1 to 18, had been confined to a 12-by-12-foot room filled with human waste for at least four years.
The rescued minors had never been enrolled in school. Some could barely speak, and several required immediate hospitalization.
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Two were airlifted to trauma centers, and one needed intubation.
State vital statistics records revealed that 33-year-old Elizabeth Siders gave birth to conjoined twin daughters in November 2022.
The twins died the same day from natural causes.
Extended family members were unaware of the actual living conditions and the total number of children. They believed the couple had about 10 children, not 16.
"If we would have known that it was like that in that home, we would have done something about it, even if it was just to go there and take the kids ourselves or give them money," said Ronnie Fletcher, a relative.
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Fletcher also disclosed that Elizabeth married Gary Jr. in 2008 when she was 15 and he was 18 years old.
