The mother in the case of the 16 children in the Ohio “house of horr0.rs” repeatedly tried to use her hand to cover an unusual mark on her b0.dy
Elizabeth Siders is inspected by officers following her arrest (Image: PLUNDERStudios/YouTube)
Disturbing new images of Ohio’s “house of horrors” mother, Elizabeth Siders, being led into jail following her arrest have emerged as new questions rise on the chilling child endangerment case.
The recently released images and videos show Elizabeth Siders frightened and bewildered as her husband, Gary Siders Jr., and in-laws, Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders, were booked into the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail earlier this month.
The jail surveillance videos and redacted booking files were posted on social media by content creator Paula Mooney, who says she received them through a public records request submitted before the controversial July 14 gag order. The order bans public officials from sharing information on the case with the public.
The footage showed Elizabeth wearing a baggy pink T-shirt, dark-colored sweats, and pink flip flops. She was escorted by a female officer, who later inspected her. Elizabeth appears in the video attempting to cover a mark on her forearm with her hand.
Another video shows Elizabeth with wet hair wearing the jail’s orange scrubs. She was sitting in a chair, with her hands clasped in her legs as she calmly answered the officer’s questions. She looked lost and frightened, scanning the room as she gave her information.
Elizabeth Siders waits as mother-in-law Christina Siders is inspected by officers (Image: PLUNDERStudios/YouTube)
The videos also showed Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders. The father-in-law was seen requiring help from an officer to get down from the van, while the mother-in-law was captured being inspected by a female officer. She was wearing a T-shirt that read: “Love one another, y’all.”
The Siders family faces 16 counts of endangering children after 16 kids were rescued from the harrowing Ohio home.
The 16 children were found in a “disgusting” home in “deplorable” conditions inside a small, rural house in Hamden, a small village in southeastern Ohio that has a population of around 727 people, police say.
Gary Siders Sr. is wheeled into the Ohio jail after his arrest (Image: PLUNDERStudios/YouTube)
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said the home had signs of human excrement and believes the 16 children were kept in a 12ft by 12ft room for around four years. The alleged abuse went to such extreme extents, the sheriff said, that some of the younger children were barely able to communicate and had “limited” speech.
“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” Cain said at a news conference. Meanwhile, shocked by what he had seen, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said he could not get the smell of the home “away from me,” describing the scenes as “pure evil.”
The children were taken to the hospital. Some were found in critical condition and were hospitalized, while others were examined and released. Two of the children were taken to trauma centers due to the extent of their injuries.
The children had never been enrolled in school, and the eldest could not spell her own name. She was described as developmentally disabled.
A judge in Vinton County entered not guilty pleas on behalf of the four defendants. Each of them was held on a $300,000 bond and was prohibited from contacting one another or their children.
In her booking, Elizabeth was listed as a mother of 18, likely referring to her conjoined twins, who died after birth. Elizabeth and Gary Siders Jr. married nearly 20 years ago, when she was 15 years old, and he was 18. Court documents show that a circuit court judge in West Virginia granted the marriage license in 2008.
Items including a high chair are seen in a home where authorities say they removed 16 children (Image: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers had previously approved a gag order for Gary Siders Jr. In issuing that gag order, Fetherolf Rogers noted that public statements from prosecutors and legal representatives could “create a reasonable likelihood of prejudicial pretrial publicity which may impact the ability to impanel an impartial jury.”
Judge Rogers signed Christina’s gag order on July 23, local news outlet WYSO reports. Elizabeth’s lawyer, Thomas Stolly, meanwhile, condemned those who had already shared excessive details about the proceedings.
“We’re still at the early stages of this criminal case. And so that’s one of the reasons that it’s important to push back against language like that,” he told WBNS, “And it’s important to remember that Elizabeth and the rest of the Siders family are innocent until proven guilty.”
On July 7, 73-year-old Gary Siders Sr. was released on a recognizance bond following a fall and medical emergency while being transported to court. Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer confirmed that Siders’ medical expenses would be covered by the county, given his incarceration.
He stated, “Based on the information that we were provided, his medical care could potentially bankrupt Vinton County. We were not going to put that burden also on our local taxpayers.”
SOURCE: DAILY EXPRESS
https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/213012/haunting-new-photos-emerge-ohio
