A TOTAL of 16 children were rescued from a dilapidated house in rural Ohio after they were believed to have been locked in a small room in deplorable conditions for most of the past four years, authorities said.
The children, who officials said were from the same family and living in squalid conditions surrounded by human faeces, ranged in age from one and a half to 18 years, and were both boys and girls.
Some of them were unable to speak, while an 18-year-old girl with developmental disabilities could not spell her own name.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said in a press conference that the conditions inside the house were filled with bacteria and human faeces.
“Most of our livestock is kept in better conditions than these children. It’s absolutely disgusting,” Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said at a news conference, according to foreign reports.
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer said the children’s parents and grandparents were each charged with 16 counts of child endangerment, a second-degree felony for causing serious physical injury.
He stressed that the case was not a human trafficking case, but rather a family matter.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said authorities found the children while executing a search warrant related to an unrelated investigation.
“We had no idea there were 16 children in the house. These children will get the protection they deserve,” he said.
Wilson described the conditions he found at the home in the small town of Hamden, which is among the poorest counties in Ohio, as “a real crime.”
He said the horrific conditions were the worst he had ever witnessed in his career.
“It was something we don’t usually see in the United States. Almost 24 hours later, I still can’t get the smell off my body,” he said.
The sheriff said an initial investigation found most of the children spent their time in a room measuring about 3.7 square meters.
He did not say how they were confined in the house, but confirmed that no cages were found at the premises.
Seven of the children were taken to a hospital in Columbus for treatment, while two others were airlifted to a trauma centre.
Wilson said one child was in critical condition on Tuesday and had to be put on a breathing tube.
“They looked almost like wild animals. It was very sad,” he said.
The four defendants, Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders, appeared in court on Wednesday.
The judge recorded a not guilty plea for them and set bail at $300,000 each.
Investigators said the family had been moving around southern Ohio for the past two decades and were believed to have deliberately avoided being registered with medical records and government agencies. The children were also never enrolled in school.
“They were very clever at hiding these children from the public and investigators,” Wilson said, adding that no one outside the family was believed to have known about them.
Residents of Hamden, a town of fewer than 1,000 people about 80 miles southeast of Columbus, were also shocked to learn that children were living in the home.
A neighbour, Joseph Stewart, 60, said he had not seen the children since the family moved into the area.
“It’s a sad state of affairs,” he said, describing the neighbourhood as a quiet place for the six years he has lived there.
The state government is reportedly seeking temporary custody of all the children involved. – July 2, 2026
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