The mother of 16 children discovered in an Ohio ‘House of Horrors’ looked to be nursing a protruding bump as she appeared in court on shock charges that she sexually abused a child.
Clad in baggy orange prison garb, Elizabeth Siders, 34, seemed to shield her stomach as she entered the court led by her attorney Tommy Stolley, and flanked by sheriff’s officers.
Siders, who has been pregnant for most of the last two decades, appeared downcast as she clutched her belly and used the arm of a chair for balance as she faced Judge Laina Fetherolf in Vinton County Common Pleas Court in Hamden.
Stolley declined to comment when asked if his client was pregnant, saying: ‘I can’t address that at this time.’
He said she married her husband, Gary Jr., 36, aged 15, and that she had given birth to 18 children since then, including a pair of conjoined twins who died at birth.
Her noticeable bump comes months after she was booked into jail, where she told officers she wasn’t pregnant, contrary to online speculation at the time.
The young mom was arraigned on felony sex charges that she and her husband, Gary Jr., sexually abused a child in their care between January and September 2022, according to indictments seen by the Daily Mail.
The child – who is more than a decade younger than them – is alleged to be their niece or nephew, according to the indictment.
Clad in baggy orange prison garb, Elizabeth Siders, 34, seemed to shield her stomach as she entered the court led by her attorney Tommy Stolley, and flanked by sheriff’s officers
Siders, who has been pregnant for most of the last two decades, appeared downcast as she clutched her belly and used the arm of a chair for balance
She pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual battery and two of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Gary Jr., who remains incarcerated, pleaded not guilty to the sex charges at his arraignment last month and was handed an extra $250,000 onto his jail bond, taking it to $550,000.
Elizabeth remains behind bars on a $500,000 bond, after the judge added a further $250,000 following today’s hearing.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the separate 19 counts of child endangerment concerning their own children.
Elizabeth is due to undergo a competency evaluation to determine if she can assist in her own defense and stand trial.
Her father-in-law, Gary Siders Sr., 73, was ruled incompetent and unlikely to be restored to competency by a judge. His attorney anticipates the charges will be dropped against him.
Attorneys for Gary Jr. and his mother, Christina Siders, 68, have also sought competency evaluations, the results of which are pending.
On Friday, Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer said that the case that led to the discovery of the 16 children ‘began as an investigation into family child sex abuse.’
The children were found living in a 12-by-12 room inside the home (pictured)
She pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual battery and two of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor
Archer specifically thanked ‘diligent Dollar General clerks,’ who were the first to call authorities ‘with concerns over children they observed.’
Law enforcement had sought the DNA of Gary Jr. in relation to the child sex abuse case, executing search warrants to secure his DNA for genetic testing, Archer explained.
When authorities served the search warrants for the alleged sex abuse, they discovered the ‘existence and condition’ of the Siders’ decrepit home on the 180 block of Ohmer Street.
The children were found living in a 12-by-12 room inside the home.
The alleged child sex abuse involved ‘intrafamily relations’ and did not pose a risk to the general public, according to Archer.
He also noted that the situation was not a case of human trafficking.
An investigation into the squalid home was launched last December when the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Special Victims Unit began looking into allegations of sexual abuse involving two children, which led to two indictments against two South Bloomingville men.
Joshua David Saunders, 23, was indicted on three counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition.
Brandon Scott Henderson Sr., 40, was indicted on a total of 21 charges involving endangering children, gross sexual imposition, sexual battery, and endangering children.
Saunders and Henderson Sr. were arrested by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), as well as the Vinton and Ross County Sheriff’s Offices.
Henderson Sr. is the partner of Saunders’ mother, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Saunders’ mom is Virginia Siders Saunders, and he is Siders Jr.’s nephew, per the outlet.
She married Joshua D. Saunders, who is locked up for murder at incarcerated at the Chillicothe Correctional Center, in May 2003.
Gary Siders Sr. (top left), Christine Siders (top right), Elizabeth Siders (bottom left) and Gary Siders Jr. (bottom right)
Joshua David Saunders, 23, and Brandon Scott Henderson Sr., 40, were indicted after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation began probing into alleged sex abuse involving two children
Authorities have said the children lived in a home covered with human feces, calling what they discovered inside the property ‘pure evil.’
State Attorney General Andy Wilson said that the children were forced to endure ‘unimaginable conditions’ that were arduous, especially for kids.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain described a small room where investigators believe the kids were kept for about four years.
‘Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,’ Cain said
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