Officials arrested four people after they found 16 children living in “deplorable” conditions and in need of medical treatment in a rural Ohio home, officials said Wednesday.
Investigators found the children during a search of the home in Hamden, 60 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio, state Attorney General Andy Wilson said at a news conference.
“Conditions you cannot even imagine people being in, let alone children being in,” Wilson said.
The conditions in which 16 children were found in a Vinton County home this week went beyond anything Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said he had ever seen before.
“(The home) really looked third world…. Just beyond comprehension. In looking at the evidence, if they had waited another 24 hours, there was a very high probability that we’d be dealing with one or multiple deaths,” Wilson said in a news conference Wednesday.
Wilson said many of the 16 children rescued, ranging in age from 1 to 18, couldn’t speak, and neither he nor Sheriff Ryan Cain nor Vinton County Prosecuting Attorney William Archer could confirm any educational background for the victims, citing the ongoing investigation.
Wilson, however, noted that “when talking reading and writing and education, we’re talking a whole other level of expectations. Some of them couldn’t even speak.”
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain grew emotional describing the scene at the home, where four adults were arrested. He believes a large number of children were kept in a roughly 12×12 area, “where they spent most of the last four years.”
“Most of our livestock are kept in better conditions than these children. There was high presences of bacteria and feces, just a disgusting scene,” he said.
Gary Siders Sr., Gary Siders Jr., Christina Siders, and Elizabeth Siders, each charged with 17 counts of child endangering, a second-degree felony, pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning. Authorities said additional charges are expected to include child endangerment.
Four suspects appeared in court after 16 children were rescued from a Vinton County home, June 30, 2026 (NBC4)
All four face accusations of abusing 16 children, who investigators found living in “horrific” conditions, according to Cain.
A parallel investigation led authorities to the Siders’ home in Hamden, Wilson said. The family reportedly has ties to Gallia County and possibly Jackson and Pike Counties, and even Wisconsin, but authorities believe they lived in Vinton County for four years.
“There isn’t much evidence that kids live there,” Wilson said. “We talked to some people that live in the neighborhood who had no idea that kids live there. They were pretty adept at keeping these kids out of sight.”
Authorities reportedly hospitalized several of the children for serious injuries, air-lifting two of them to trauma centers in Columbus. Seven remain hospitalized, Wilson said.
Video from the home, located on Ohmer Street in Hamden, showed investigators wearing masks and what appeared to be stacks of garbage inside the home. Wilson said the conditions were so deplorable that agents couldn’t reach certain areas in the house.
Archer said officials are in the process of placing the children in protective custody with Ohio Jobs and Family Services, and he reiterated that the incident is an intra-family situation, not human trafficking. He said no other families or children in the area are at risk.
“There is joy when we realize we’re about to change 16 lives for the better, but it’s hard,” Cain said, who also noted that the investigation remains in its infancy, due in part to the difficulty of gaining information from the victims.
Wilson added that due to the communication challenges with the victims, he is asking that anyone with information that could help their investigation call the Bureau of Criminal Investigation unit at 855-224-6446.
All four suspects pleaded not guilty Wednesday, and Judge Laina Fetheroff Rogers issued them a $300,000 bond apiece. Each charge carries a minimum sentence of 2-to-8 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of 12 years.
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