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A new report has claimed that Elizabeth Siders, the mother charged in the alleged Ohio "House of Horrors" case, is currently pregnant while awaiting trial.
According to Law & Crime, Siders was a mother of 18 children and is now expecting her 19th.
The outlet reported that Siders gave birth to a set of twin girls, Bailey Lee Siders and Faith Lee Siders, in November 2022.
The babies were conjoined, meaning they were joined at the chest and shared organs after being born at just 24 weeks' gestation - roughly four months premature.
Records show both infants died the same day they were born. The cause of death was listed as respiratory failure linked to extreme prematurity.
Law & Crime also pointed to a change in the number of child endangerment charges filed in the case.
The report stated that Elizabeth, her husband, Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders were initially charged with 17 counts of child endangerment before that number was reduced.
"But now that number 16, I'm wondering if that was because Elizabeth Ciders is pregnant."
The outlet did not cite any official confirmation regarding the alleged pregnancy.
The latest claim comes after Elizabeth's attorney, Tommy Stolley, shared details of conversations with his client following her arrest.
In an interview with WBNS10, the lawyer said he believes all the children found at the property are Elizabeth's and Gary Jr.'s.
According to the attorney, Elizabeth "repeatedly" told him that she and her husband "wanted a big family."
"She said that kids are a gift from God and that she was open to that," he added.
It has also previously emerged that Elizabeth married Gary Jr. in 2008 when she was 15 years old and seven months pregnant.
Mason County records show her parents, Brian Ray Russell and Lori Ann Raines, consented to the marriage.
Stolley has challenged some of the public claims surrounding the case.
"There's been no evidence to suggest that the children were locked or forced to remain in the 12 by 12 room. I think this is one of the things that's been really sensationalized by the internet," he said.
The attorney also said Elizabeth told him that her children had phones, with one of the older children using social media and even having "inside jokes."
"I think the big thing with that is it doesn't jive with the way that this case has been characterised in the public," Stolley said.
"When you use language like feral kids, you're imagining people that have been isolated away from human contact.
"People who have never interacted with any sort of social media, with the internet, with humans outside of their own home, or even humans in general, who completely lack the ability to use language.
"There's nothing to suggest that that is the case here," he added.
The attorney also revealed that the first question his client asked him after he introduced himself at the jail "was about her kids" and whether they "were OK."
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The latest report also comes after Siders Sr. was released on a recognizance bond following what prosecutors described as a medical emergency while being transported to a preliminary hearing.
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer said Siders Sr. "fell and had a medical issue that required treatment and assessment."
Doctors later determined he had a "serious medical condition" requiring treatment outside the county.
"We were not going to put that burden on our taxpayers, and so it was agreed that we would do a recognizance bond so he could get the medical treatment that the doctors say he needs and won't cost the county that money," Archer said.
"If he's released from then, he will then be equipped with a GPS monitor."
Meanwhile, Stolley has filed a motion seeking to modify Elizabeth's $300,000 bond to a recognizance bond, arguing that she cannot afford to pay it.
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Following the arrest of four family members after 16 children were found “kept in worse conditions than livestock”, questions have been raised over the welfare of the mother who began birthing the brood aged just 15.
The children, aged between one-and-a-half and 18, were discovered inside a crumbling house by the Vinton County Sheriff's Office in Ohio on Tuesday, June 30, and were described as being "kept in worse conditions than livestock”.
Heartbreakingly, the children had suffered such “serious physical harm” that two had to be flown to specialist trauma centres, while another seven were taken to Columbus Hospitals, with one admitted to the ICU and intubated.
The children's father, Gary Siders Jr., 36, mother Elizabeth Siders, 33, and grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 77, were arrested and charged with 16 counts of child endangerment. However, they have all since pleaded not guilty.
Elizabeth’s attorney Thomas Stolly told the Associated Press that Elizabeth married Gary II in 2008, when she was just 15, and their eldest daughter was born just two months later.
As she was underage, both her parents, Brian Russell and Lori Ann Russell, would have had to sign the marriage certificate, as would Gary Jr’s parents, the Siders.
The elder Siders are believed to have four daughters “quite a bit older” than Gary Jr, who did not remain in close contact with their parents and were shocked when they found out about the hidden children and subsequent arrests.
Ronnie Fletcher, the husband of one of Siders Sr. and Christina’s daughters, claimed his family was completely unaware of the horrific conditions at the Ohio home and only learnt about the arrests through news reports.
The estranged family member told WOWK-TV that he was “Horrified. Worried about the kids.”
“It’s hard to explain the action when you’re distant family. What can I do to help? That was the original reaction to it,” he added.
Fletcher also revealed that Elizabeth had a difficult home life before marrying into the Siders family, saying: “She’s willingly there at the home. She did not have a very good home life when they got together, and she escaped.”
Another man who claimed on social media to be Elizabeth’s brother said she had been “indoctrinated” by the family before she became pregnant and married into the family as a teenager.
Also, on an episode of Jesse Weber Live, host Jesse Weber and former lead trial prosecutor Tommy Pope debated if her background could act as a legal defense.
Weber said: “So, child bride, indoctrinated, had her first baby, allegedly at 13. Is any of this a defense?”
Pope responded with: “I don’t know that it’s a defense. I think it can break down strategically, even on how you trial them, whether everybody has a separate trial, whether they’re in there together.”
The attorney representing the mother accused in the Ohio "House of Horrors" case has disputed some of the claims circulating about the family.
Elizabeth Siders is one of four family members charged after police found 16 children inside a home in Hamden, Ohio.
She, along with her husband, Gary Siders Jr., and Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders, have been charged with 16 counts of child endangerment. All four have pleaded not guilty.
Speaking to WBNS10, Elizabeth's attorney, Tommy Stolley, shared details of his first meeting with his client and challenged how the case has been portrayed online.
"There's been no evidence to suggest that the children were locked or forced to remain in the 12 by 12 room. I think this is one of the things that's been really sensationalized by the internet."
Stolley said the mom told him that her kids had phones, with one of the older children using social media and even having "inside jokes."
"I think the big thing with that is it doesn't jive with the way that this case has been characterised in the public," Stolley said. "When you use language like feral kids, you're imagining people that have been isolated away from human contact."
"People who have never interacted with any sort of social media, with the internet, with humans outside of their own home, or even humans in general, who completely lack the ability to use language."
"There's nothing to suggest that that is the case here," he added.
Although Stolley said he had not met the children himself, he revealed the first question Elizabeth asked after he introduced himself "was about her kids" and whether they "were OK."
The lawyer said he believes all 16 children, who range in age from 18 months to 18 years old, are Elizabeth's and Gary Jr.'s.
According to the attorney, Elizabeth "repeatedly" told him that she and her husband "wanted a big family."
"She said that kids are a gift from God and that she was open to that," he added.
It has previously emerged that the mom married Gary in 2008 when she was 15 years old and seven months pregnant.
Mason County records show her parents, Brian Ray Russell and Lori Ann Raines, consented to the marriage.
The latest developments come after Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer announced on Wednesday (July 8) that Siders Sr. had been released on a recognizance bond following a medical emergency while being transported to a preliminary hearing.
Archer said Siders "fell and had a medical issue that required treatment and assessment."
Doctors later determined he had a "serious medical condition" requiring treatment outside the county.
"We were not going to put that burden on our taxpayers, and so it was agreed that we would do a recognizance bond so he could get the medical treatment that the doctors say he needs and won't cost the county that money," Archer said. "If he's released from then, he will then be equipped with a GPS monitor."
A recognizance bond allows a defendant to be released from jail without paying cash bail.
Stolley has also filed a motion seeking to modify Elizabeth's $300,000 bond to a recognizance bond, arguing that she cannot afford to pay it.
A lawyer has opened up on what it was like to speak to Elizabeth Siders, the mom in the Ohio 'house of horrors' case, where 16 children were found in conditions similar to the "third world."
The kids, aged between 18 months and 18 years old, were discovered in the feces-filled rural home by the Vinton County Sheriff's Office in Ohio on June 30.
More details have emerged since the home was found in a horrific state, as the children were described as being "kept in worse conditions than livestock”.
The children were found in a 12-by-12 room which was crumbling, as investigators noted that the children had also suffered “serious physical harm.”
Investigators said that the crime was an "intrafamily" case, suggesting that some of the children in the house may have come from sexual relations within the family.
But now, a lawyer has opened up on what the mother of these kids was really like.
The attorney representing Elizabeth Siders has spoken out about how she was following her arrest.
His description surprisingly doesn't fit into the negative coverage of both her and her husband's parenting, as the attorney admitted she looked "distraught".
Thomas Stolly spoke with her for an hour and a half after she was taken into custody, telling Criminally Obsessed that she seemed "exhausted" during their meeting.
"I had no idea what I was walking into. I saw the same headlines everyone else did. At one point, the term 'pure evil' was used to describe Elizabeth and the home, and at another point, there was a comment that livestock had been treated better," he said on the show.
"I met a woman who was timid and who was exhausted. It looked like she had been crying quite a bit. She looked distraught. And she was willing to talk to me. Able to talk to me."
Stolly said he left out the fact that the case was being heavily covered by the media, as he realised that she had no idea about how the story was being covered.
He said: "We sat down for about an hour and a half to go through the basics of this case. I asked her if she had seen any of the coverage that has been online for the better part of a day now.
"She hasn't. She does not know how the home, the conditions, the investigation is being described."
He said that this was due to how "fragile" she looked at the time, adding that she didn't fit the narrative which was built around her.
"[She's] not someone who comes across as 'pure evil,' because evil requires malice," he said, further adding: "The person that I saw there, Elizabeth, she doesn't have that in her eyes."
A relative also said that he wasn't aware of there being 16 children in the home, believing there were only 10.
Two of them were sent to specialist trauma centres, while another seven were taken to Columbus Hospitals, with one admitted to the ICU and intubated.
Four family members, believed to be the children's parents and grandparents, Gary Siders Jr, 36, Elizabeth Siders, 33, Gary Siders Sr, 73, and Christina Siders, 77, have been arrested and charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment.
All four have pleaded not guilty.
The case is currently under investigation, with all four family members set to appear back in court.
On June 30, 16 children, aged between 18 months and 18 years old, were discovered and rescued after spending at least four years “kept in worse conditions than livestock”, and their responsible adults were arrested in Ohio.
The latest twist in the gut-wrenching story, which has gripped the nation, is that the children’s uncle, Elizabeth Siders’ brother, has spoken out about what happened to his sister and claimed that “everyone knew about it”.
Heartbreakingly, the children had suffered such “serious physical harm” that two had to be flown to specialist trauma centres, while another seven were taken to Columbus Hospitals, with one admitted to the ICU and intubated.
The children's father, Gary Siders Jr., 36, mother Elizabeth Siders, 33, and grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 77, were arrested and charged with 16 counts of child endangerment. However, they have all since pleaded not guilty.
Elizabeth’s attorney Thomas Stolly told the Associated Press that Elizabeth married Gary II in 2008, when she was just 15, and their eldest daughter was born just two months later, leaving many members of the public fascinated by the case believing that she was indoctrinated by the Siders family.
As the expectant teenager was underage, both her parents, Brian Russell and Lori Ann Russell, would have had to sign the marriage certificate, as would Gary Jr’s parents, the Siders.
In a shocking revelation posted on social media by Elizabeth’s brother Jeremy Russell, the estranged family member claimed that his sister was indoctrinated and everyone knew about it.
In a series of posts, he said: “My sister just rapped her life up. Due to indoctrination. It is 100 per cent real.”
According to Russell, the siblings recently reconnected after 15 years without contact. Recalling the moment he saw his sister and her husband, he said: “I met this dude couple months ago. Shook my hand like a baby would, super soft hands. Definitely never worked a day in his life.
“I should have took him out that night. I was thinking about it but my sister. I was happy to see. Been 15 years. You lost touch with your family followed another look what happened.”
In another bold statement posted to Facebook, Russell claimed that his sister Elizabeth has 20 children, although this has not been confirmed by any officials, and only 16 children were removed from the Siders’ home.
In an attempt to silence the inevitable keyboard warriors that would criticize him for not trying to help his sister and her children, Russell told his now 6.7k followers: “I love my sister, however everyone knew about it.”
He also wrote: “I told everyone, welfare supporters to the maximum. So the state knows something. I don’t get it, just leave me alone.”
Birth and death records have revealed that the couple at the centre of the Ohio 'house of horrors' case had two other children - conjoined twin girls who were born and died on the same day in 2022.
Bailey Lee Siders and Faith Lee Siders were born on November 20, 2022, at a hospital in Columbus.
They were joined at the chest, sharing organs, after being born at just 24 weeks' gestation - roughly four months premature.
Records show both girls lived for approximately one hour.
The cause of death was listed as respiratory failure linked to extreme prematurity.
Their parents are Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33 - the same couple now facing 16 counts each of felony child endangering after authorities discovered 16 children living in conditions described as 'unimaginable' inside a home in Hamden, Ohio.
On June 30, officers from the Vinton County Sheriff's Office arrived at the property on Ohmer Street in Hamden to execute a search warrant connected to a separate criminal investigation.
They were not expecting to find children.
Inside, they discovered 16 children - aged between 18 months and 18 years - allegedly living in a single 12-by-12-foot room contaminated with human waste.
The home had five rooms and one bathroom for a household of 20 people.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described what investigators found as 'pure evil'.
'They looked like almost feral animals,' Wilson said of the children. 'It was terrible.'
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said deputies were shocked by what they encountered.
"Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children," he said.
"Just a disgusting scene."
Seven children were transported to hospitals in Columbus.
Two had to be flown to trauma centres by helicopter.
One was placed in intensive care. Some of the children were unable to speak.
The eldest, an 18-year-old woman, was unable to write her own name and was described as having severe developmental disabilities.
Four adults were arrested and arraigned on July 1: Gary Siders Jr., 36; Elizabeth Siders, 33; Gary Siders Sr., 73; and Christina Siders, 67. They have been identified as the children's parents and grandparents.
All four face 16 counts each of second-degree felony child endangering.
Each count carries a minimum sentence of two to eight years and a maximum of 12 years.
If convicted on all counts, each defendant faces up to 192 years in prison. They have all pleaded not guilty and are being held on $300,000 bond.
Marriage records from Mason County, West Virginia, show Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders were married on March 31, 2008, at the Mason County Courthouse.
He was 18. She was 15. The eldest child was born just two months later.
Elizabeth's lawyer, Thomas Stolly, revealed that the first thing she asked him when he visited her in jail was not about her own case, but about her children.
"She asked if her children were OK, she asked if I knew where they were, and she asked when she'd be able to see them again," Stolly said.
He confirmed that Elizabeth told him all 16 children are hers. He also said he had not seen anything to support the Attorney General's description of the family as 'pure evil'.
"I think that this is more so a case of isolation than a case of evil," Stolly said, "and I think that there's an important distinction there."
According to the American Heart Association, thoracopagus - the condition Bailey and Faith were born with - is the most common form of conjoined twins.
The National Institute of Health describes it as having a 'dismal prognosis', with non-operable cases resulting in near-100% mortality and operable cases carrying a survival rate of around 50%.
The twins' deaths are not currently included in the criminal charges.
The 16 counts filed against each defendant relate to the 16 living children found in the home, and the criminal complaint does not list any charges connected to the twins' date of birth or initials.
However, the existence of the twins had already prompted intense speculation online after social media users spotted a headstone in Hamden bearing the names Bailey Lee Siders and Faith Lee Siders, with both birth and death dates listed as November 20, 2022.
The death records have now confirmed they were part of the Siders family.
This is the question that has dominated coverage of the case since it broke.
None of the 16 children had ever been enrolled in school.
The Vinton County School District confirmed it had no records of any of them.
Investigators believe the family moved across multiple Ohio counties dating back to at least 2008, avoiding creating medical or government records that might have revealed the alleged abuse and neglect.
Neighbor Joseph Stewart, who lives three houses away, said he had never seen a single child at the property.
"It's a sad situation," the 60-year-old said. "I saw no kids at all."
Another resident, Josh O'Dell, said the house appeared abandoned.
"It was a shock because we had never seen or heard anything from that house. I had never seen a child in that yard."
Former FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer told NewsNation that the family's strategy was deliberate: "You get away with it because you conceal it by moving over and over again.
"You don't let the children out of the house, and you keep them in that basement."
She also raised the possibility that investigators could pursue additional charges as the case develops, particularly concerning the older children and questions around DNA.
As more details have emerged, social media users have drawn comparisons to the case of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and fathered seven children with her in a concealed underground space.
While the circumstances in Hamden are different, the scale of the alleged concealment - 16 children hidden from the outside world for years - has prompted the comparison repeatedly.
Criminal defence attorney Mark Geragos told NewsNation that the age range of the children was the most striking detail.
"Eighteen months to 18 years is just stunning in terms of that," he said.
The investigation remains in its early stages.
Prosecutors have indicated that additional criminal charges are expected as evidence continues to be reviewed.
Gary Siders Jr. is also separately scheduled to appear in court on Thursday for unrelated indecent exposure charges that were filed the same day the children were discovered.
Elizabeth Siders' family has told reporters they believe she was 'indoctrinated' by the Siders family after marrying Gary Jr. at 15.
Her brother-in-law, Ronnie Fletcher, said he and his wife had no idea there were that many children in the household, though they knew there were likely at least 10.
He says he only ever met the eldest two or three 'years and years ago'.
All 16 children are now in the temporary custody of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The twins, Bailey and Faith, are buried in Hamden. Their headstone lists a single date: November 20, 2022.
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