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Published 13:02 13 Jul 2026 GMT
A forensic psychologist has opened up about the chilling "House of Horrors" case, where 16 children were found in a neglected, feces-filled rural Ohio home.
Authorities have asked the public to avoid speculation about the conditions the children, who were aged 18 months to 18 years old, were found in.
The children's living conditions were described as similar to the "third world," as police had raided the home due to an unrelated charge.
Investigators at the Vinton County Sheriff's Office made the shocking discovery in Ohio on June 30.
Authorities found the kids in a 12-by-12 room, which was crumbling, with the children appearing to have suffered “serious physical harm.”
Some officials said that the children were being "kept in worse conditions than livestock.”
Following the discovery, four family members, the children's parents and grandparents, Gary Siders Jr, 36, Elizabeth Siders, 33, Gary Siders Sr, 73, and Christina Siders, 67, have been arrested and charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment.
A psychologist has now shared who may be responsible for the home's horrific state.
Forensic psychologist John Delatorre spoke to WSYX ABC 6, explaining that long-term abuse can come from a family dynamic built on secrecy and the avoidance of external resources.
The specialist suggested that officials focus on the roles that older family members had, as they may have been responsible for starting these abusive behaviors.
He explained: "The ways in which this thing gets covered up requires planning, right? It requires a sophistication in being able to avoid what would be positive resources, but also law enforcement."
"And I think, when we think of who has those capabilities, it's usually someone who's been doing it for a long period of time. It's not someone who is, you know, relatively young," he claimed.
"So we're looking at the grandparents essentially, right? The elder Siders and his (Gary Jr's) wife as essentially being the catalyst for how these abuses could, number one, begin, but also kind of maintain," Delatorre concluded.
His explanation came after it was announced on Wednesday (July 8) that Gary Siders Sr. was released from jail to be taken to a hospital following health concerns.
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer revealed that the 73-year-old fell and had to be tended to, as Judge Laina Rogers allowed for his $300,000 cash bond to be changed to a $300,000 recognizance bond.
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer also addressed claims and rumors that are doing the rounds on social media.
This included the legitimacy of images and videos being shared of the exterior and interior of the rural home.
Speaking to the public, he stated that a lot of the content being shared is "not truthful and not accurate," warning of the potential effects on the 16 children involved.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson admitted that he "didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there" prior to the search as it is not "the type of thing that we’re not used to seeing here in America."
He described the scene as "pure evil" and "disgusting," but the Siders' lawyers have since hit back at the "language" being used by authorities when speaking about the case.
They have reminded them and the public that the defendants are innocent until proven guilty, with officials speaking about what may have been going on at the home.
Many have been assuming what has happened themselves, while others have started to post doctored photos and videos of the children "caged up."
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Published 09:34 08 Jul 2026 GMT
More information has surfaced in the horrifying Ohio 'house of horrors' case, where 16 children were found in a feces-filled rural home.
An investigation into the grim situation has revealed more details about what really happened in the home, which was found in a decrepit state.
A relative recently said they were not aware that there were 16 of the "almost feral" children living in the tiny home, believing there were only 10.
After being found by the Vinton County Sheriff's Office in Ohio on June 30, the children were described as being "kept in worse conditions than livestock”.
Aged between one-and-a-half and 18, the kids were found in a 12 x 12 room which was crumbling, with authorities noting that the children had suffered “serious physical harm” in the awful conditions.
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.
But now, distant relative Ronnie Fletcher has shared more about how he has been affected by proceedings.
Fletcher is married to a daughter of two of the suspects, Gary Siders Sr. and Christina 'Lynn' Siders, and he has not held back in speaking about the shocking discovery.
He admitted that his own family has been part of the crossfire after four members of the family were arrested.
These suspects include the parents, Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, as well as the grandparents, Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 67.
Speaking to WOWK-TV, Fletcher said: "'What can I do to help? - That was the original reaction to it,
"Horrified. Worried about the kids. It's hard to explain the action when you're distant family."
His words came after investigators revealed that the crime was an "intrafamily" case, which suggests that some children may have come from sexual relations within the family.
It also emerged that the children's mother, Elizabeth Siders, married Gary Jr. at 15 years old, before having a baby months later.
Findings also revealed that Elizabeth gave birth to conjoined twins who died after being born prematurely.
The four suspects each pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of child endangerment on Wednesday (July 1), when a judge set their bail at $300,000 each.
If they are found guilty of all charges, each defendant could face a maximum sentence of up to 192 years behind bars.
Fletcher said that he and his wife only found out about the sick allegations when the arrests were announced last week.
The extended family had become estranged over the years, with no idea about what investigators alleged was happening in the Hamden home.
"It's been awful for the people that had no idea that was going on in the house that are related to this family," Fletcher admitted.
"I mean, we've had death threats - we've been told that we need to be put in front of an execution line of guns and... killed and burned."
He shockingly claimed that his daughters have received threats, forcing the family to delete their social media accounts out of fear.
The dad explained: "My children, my daughters, has been threatened; it's to the point we've had our pictures taken off our accounts and we've had to delete all our social media. I mean it's been awful.
"All this is taking money off our table because we can't live our normal lives because the way these people are trying to treat us on something we didn't have nothing to do with," he said, with his wife now too scared to go to work.
He asked: "How am I supposed to start a business in this community when I'm being stapled to the face of 'pure evil'?"
Published 16:15 06 Jul 2026 GMT
A psychologist analyzing the case of 16 children found inside a home in Ohio has offered an interesting theory for how the family lived in those conditions.
On Tuesday (June 30), the Vinton County Sheriff's Office discovered 16 children, aged between one and 18, at a small home in Hamden after executing a search warrant linked to a separate criminal investigation that began four to six weeks earlier.
The children were allegedly confined to a single 12-foot-by-12-foot room surrounded by human waste.
The reported parents, Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, along with grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 77, were arrested at the scene and each charged with 16 counts of child endangerment.
All four have pleaded not guilty and are being held on $300,000 bond.
Dr. Todd Grande analyzed the case in a YouTube video, where he suggested the family may have had what psychologists describe as "low disgust propensity and sensitivity".
According to Grande, disgust propensity refers to how easily someone experiences disgust, while disgust sensitivity describes how much a person is bothered by those feelings.
"There are three dimensions of disgust propensity and sensitivity: pathogen, sexual, and moral. The domain related to squalor cases is pathogen disgust. This is the normal avoidance response to feces, urine, rotten food, vomit, insects, parasites, bad smells, and visible contamination," he said.
He explained that people with low levels of pathogen disgust can tolerate conditions that most people would immediately find unbearable.
Grande added that this personality profile is often associated with "poor insight, lack of shame, lack of concern, and refusal of assistance".
"They may not see themselves as needing help from anyone. Again, they view their circumstances as normal," he shared.
Grande also suggested the children themselves may have developed similar attitudes because they had never been exposed to life outside the home.
"They grew up in an environment where no effort was made to avoid that stimuli. The isolation component prevented them from having sufficient contact with non-family members to learn values outside the family. For instance, if they had gone to school, they would have quickly learned that terrible odors are not acceptable," he said.
Police in Ohio believe the children had been isolated for years, with many reportedly unable to communicate normally.
The oldest, an 18-year-old, was reportedly unable to spell her own name.
Officials said two children suffered such serious physical harm that they had to be airlifted to specialist trauma centers, while another seven were taken to hospitals in Columbus.
One child was admitted to intensive care in serious condition, per The Guardian.
Elizabeth Siders' attorney, Thomas Stolly, said his client was "crying and exhausted" when he met her in jail.
Rather than asking about the charges against her or when she might be released, Stolly said her first concern was for her children.
"In fact, my client's first question to me when I walked into the jail and introduced myself was about her kids. 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," he told Associated Press.
"I thought it was telling that her first concern was not, 'When can I get out of jail,' but was 'Are my children ok?'"
Stolly said he believes the situation is far more complicated, saying that "evil requires malice" and he "did not see any malice in Elizabeth".
"I think that this is more so a case of isolation than a case of evil, and I think that there’s an important distinction there. Because if that’s all you know - and you have to think someone at 15 years old doesn’t know a whole lot about being an adult, about being a mother, about being a wife - and that’s been your worldview for the past 17 or 18 years, you get shaped by that," he continued.
The attorney added that while the mom did not present herself as a victim, "it may be too early to actually determine what was going on there".
"While the headlines may be sensational, there's a real human component to this and so I would ask people to give this process time to play out," he said.
He also confirmed that Elizabeth told him all 16 children are hers and that she married Gary Siders Jr. when she was just 15 years old, per The Tab.
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During a court hearing on July 1, all four defendants formally pleaded not guilty.
Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers ordered that they have no contact with one another or with any of the children if released from custody.
Per Associated Press, she said: "They [prosecutors] are asking that you have no contact with your co-defendants – that means each other. I presume the jail will keep you from having contact with the other two co-defendants if you remain in jail.
"No contact with the alleged victims of the offence; and if you are released, that you be fitted with a GPS monitor at state’s expense."
The judge also explained the legal meaning of each plea available to the defendants.
"You have four pleas available to you. A plea of guilty is a complete admission of your guilt. A not guilty plea is a complete denial of your guilt. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is an admission to the facts that underlie the complaint," she said.
"If you plead no contest, the state would give me a statement of facts, and it would be up to the court to determine whether or not you were guilty of the charged offences based on those facts."
The judge confirmed that all four bonds are set at $300,000, and each charge could land a prison sentence of two to eight years.
If each of the four family members is found guilty on all counts, they could face 192 years in prison individually.
Published 09:56 13 Jul 2026 GMT
Authorities have spoken out about social media users who have started speculating about the Siders family.
During an unrelated police raid, 16 children were found in a feces-filled rural home in Hamden, Ohio, in what is now widely known as the 'house of horrors' case.
Their living conditions were described as similar to the "third world," with the children aged between 18 months and 18 years old.
The harrowing discovery was made by the Vinton County Sheriff's Office in Ohio on June 30.
In the weeks since, more details have emerged, as children were described as being "kept in worse conditions than livestock,” with some found to have suffered “serious physical harm.”
Four family members, said to be the children's parents and grandparents, Gary Siders Jr, 36, Elizabeth Siders, 33, Gary Siders Sr, 73, and Christina Siders, 67, have since been arrested and charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment.
But officials have now warned the public about speaking out about the case.
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer addressed claims and rumors that are doing the rounds on social media, including the legitimacy of images and videos being shared of the rural home.
Speaking to the public, he stated that a lot of the content being shared is "not truthful and not accurate," warning of the potential effects on the 16 children involved.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson admitted that he "didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there" prior to the search as it is not "the type of thing that we’re not used to seeing here in America."
He described the scene as "pure evil" and "disgusting," but the Siders' lawyers have since hit back at the "language" being used by authorities when speaking about the case.
They have reminded them and the public that the defendants are innocent until proven guilty, with officials simply suggesting what may have been going on at the home.
Many have been assuming what has happened themselves, while others have started to post doctored photos and videos of the children "caged up."
Archer said at a press conference on Wednesday (July 8): "Our office has specifically not addressed the factual nature of this case because it is still under investigation, there's a lot of information still out there,
"In fairness to the defendants, particularly to the victims and to the community - we're not releasing information until it's appropriate to do so," he said as per The Columbus Dispatch.
He went on: "If you've seen some of the stuff on social media - there were pictures of the kids in cages, caged up in houses.
"The problem with social media is you don't have to be telling the truth, you don't have to say that something is accurate."
"I don't understand why people put stuff like this on there. It's not truthful, it's not accurate," Archer admitted, suggesting it could be AI-generated.
"But I can't stop it. All I can do is shrug my shoulders and say, 'Why are we doing this to these victims?' They're going to be tarnished by this for a long part of their lives."
He confirmed that the children are "all safe and being cared for," since being found in the decrepit home two weeks ago.
Published 16:03 03 Jul 2026 GMT
New details have emerged after 16 children were rescued from what authorities have described as a "house of horrors" in rural Ohio, with many people online drawing comparisons to one of Europe's most infamous captivity cases.
Four adults have now been charged after investigators discovered 16 children allegedly living in appalling conditions inside a home in Hamden, Ohio.
According to officials, those arrested are Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders, who have been identified as the children's parents and grandparents. They are all facing felony child endangerment charges.
The children, whose ages range from just 18 months to 18 years old, were allegedly confined for much of their lives inside a single 12-by-12-foot room contaminated with human waste.
Speaking to WCMH, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described the children as being "almost feral."
The case has stunned the local community, with neighbors telling the Associated Press they had no idea so many children were living inside the property. The children were also reportedly not enrolled in school.
As investigators continue piecing together what happened, experts have questioned how such a large family managed to avoid detection for so long.
Appearing on NewsNation's CUOMO, former FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer suggested the family's constant movement may have helped them stay off authorities' radar.
"You get away with it because you conceal it by moving over and over again," Coffindaffer said. "You don't let the children out of the house, and you keep them in that basement."
Criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos said the sheer age range of the children was one of the most disturbing aspects of the case.
"I think probably the thing that strikes me the most is the span of the ages," he said. "Eighteen months to 18 years is just stunning in terms of that."
Authorities have repeatedly described the children as "feral," a term Geragos said unfortunately fit the allegations.
"That's actually a pretty good use of the word," he explained. "It's not civilized, is, I guess, the best way I'd put it."
Coffindaffer also believes investigators could pursue additional charges as the case develops.
"I think there are going to be other charges," she said. "I believe these older children, the females that were able to be of childbearing years, I think they're going to have to do full DNA."
The investigation remains ongoing, and officials have not said whether the family had previously come to the attention of child protective services.
As more details have emerged, social media users have drawn comparisons to a notorious European captivity case involving an Austrian man, Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and fathered seven children with her inside a concealed underground space.
While there is currently no suggestion the Ohio case involves the same type of offences, some online have pointed to similarities involving prolonged isolation and children allegedly being hidden from the outside world.
One person wrote on X: "What's scary is that most people don't know their own neighbors…. There was a case like this in Austria a while ago... it was so sad. Prayers for these kids, only God's strength can help them through this. (The survivors... are living quietly, recovery takes years — their privacy is being respected and protected.)"
Authorities have not linked the two cases, and the Ohio investigation remains active as detectives continue gathering evidence.
Published 12:12 07 Jul 2026 GMT
A relative of the 16 children found in a feces-filled rural Ohio home made a shocking admission about the discovery.
More details have emerged about the horrific situation, as the adults responsible for the kids have been arrested on child felony charges.
The children were found in a 12 x 12 room which was crumbling, with all 16 aged between one-and-a-half and 18.
After being found by the Vinton County Sheriff's Office in Ohio on Tuesday (June 30), they were described as being "kept in worse conditions than livestock”.
As a result of the awful conditions, the children suffered “serious physical harm,” resulting in two being sent to specialist trauma centres, while another seven were taken to Columbus Hospitals, with one admitted to the ICU and intubated.
Now, a relative said they were not aware that there were 16 of the "almost feral" children living in the tiny home.
Authorities found the children, aged between one and 18 years old, living at the family’s neglected Vinton County home last week.
Ohio Authorities have arrested and charged four family members after discovering the children in the rural home.
These suspects include the parents, Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, as well as the grandparents, Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 67.
Ronnie Fletcher, who is married to the grandparents' adult daughters, said while they knew the couple had a large family, he only believed there were 10 children.
Speaking to local news outlet WOWK 13, he admitted that he only learned of the 16 children when news of the arrests broke.
He explained that the news left the extended family “horrified” and “worried about the kids,” adding: “It’s been awful for the people that had no idea that was going on [in] the house that are related to this family.”
Fletcher claimed that relatives would have got involved if they knew what was really happening, saying: “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.”
But it had been almost seven years since Fletcher and his wife knew where her relatives were living, as the suspects kept the family at "arms-length."
He said: “We might have known whereabouts, like in a county or in a spot, [but] most of the time we felt like that wasn’t really the truth.”
"The last time we heard from them, we gave them a car, and that’s probably close to a year ago now – other than Lynn [Christina] calling us and asking for money or [saying] they needed help with the water bill," adding that they found out about the existence of the decrepit home on the news.
Fletcher said that at the time of the couple's oldest child's birth, around 18 years ago, the Siders raised children who became "successful members of society."
He went on: “I’ve known this family since grade school. I’ve been with their daughter for 20 years. Gary and Lynn did not raise their children that way.
“The four daughters that got out are successful members of society.”
“I can’t believe it because we always thought there was homeschooling going on,” Fletcher admitted.
“We knew they didn’t go to school, but we were always told they were being homeschooled.”
Rumors of "generational incest" have circulated online, as Fletcher further pointed out: “This is all in that one home.”
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson had also described the reported abuse as “intra-family.”
The children can barely communicate, with many found to be mute, say authorities.
Investigators said that the eldest child, 18, is developmentally disabled and struggles to write her own name.
The four suspects each pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of child endangerment on Wednesday (July 1), when a judge set their bail at $300,000 each.
If they are found guilty of all charges, each defendant could face a maximum sentence of up to 192 years behind bars.
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