As the investigation into the Ohio “house of horrors” continues, an old Facebook post allegedly written by the children’s mother has resurfaced, shedding new light on the case years before she was charged.
Authorities arrested four family members after children ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years old were discovered inside a feces-covered home in Hamden, Ohio, during what officials said was an unrelated police raid.
The kids were allegedly kept for much of the past four years inside a single 12-by-12-foot room.
“They looked like almost feral animals”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the case is among the most disturbing child endangerment investigations the state has ever seen.
“They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible,” the attorney general said, per CBS News. “This really looked third world.”
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said: “Most of their livestock was kept in better condition than their children.”
The parents, Elizabeth Siders, 33, and Gary Siders Jr., 36, along with grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 67, have each been charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment.
Elizabeth, Gary Jr., and Christina Siders are being held on $300,000 bond, while Gary Siders Sr. has been released on a recognizance bond because of what has been described as a “serious medical condition.”
Ohio ‘house of horrors’
Amid the ongoing investigation, an old Facebook post allegedly authored by Elizabeth Siders has resurfaced. The post was published on June 5, 2014, making Elizabeth 21 at the time, through Gary Siders Jr.’s Facebook account.
The post read: “this is elizabeth i dont want any one putting pictures of me on facebook every one if you have any pictures of me on here please take them off here!,” according to VT.
According to a court filing reviewed by Fox affiliate WCMH, Elizabeth has asked to be released from jail.
Her attorney, J. Thomas Stolly, wrote: “Through conversations with Counsel, the Defendant maintains that her principal desire (is) to reunite with her children; she understands that reunification of any sort is an impossibility if she does not appear before this Court,” according to LADbible.
Elizabeth Siders
According to Mason County public records, Elizabeth married the children’s father, Gary Siders Jr., on March 31, 2008, when she was 15 years old. Gary was 19 at the time.
“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,” Stolly told the Associated Press (AP). “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.
“I think 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.”
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