Elizabeth Siders, the Ohio mother at the center of the so-called “House of Horrors” child endangerment case, appeared shaken and disoriented as she was escorted into jail after her arrest.
New surveillance footage obtained by the Daily Mail from Plunder True Crime shows the 33-year-old looking stunned while she, her husband Gary Siders Jr., 36, and his parents, Christina, 67, and Gary Sr., 73, were processed at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in the early morning hours of July 1.
The arrests took place on June 30 after authorities said they found the couple, their 16 children and the elder Siders living in appalling conditions inside a run-down home in Hamden, a small village about 80 miles south of Columbus.
Investigators said the children were found surrounded by human waste, insects, garbage and heavy filth, with law enforcement describing the scene as “deplorable” and Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson calling it “pure evil.”
All four Siders adults have been charged with 16 counts of child endangerment, listed as second-degree felonies, and each has entered a not guilty plea.
The unedited jail surveillance clips and redacted booking records were initially released by Plunder True Crime, the channel run by creator Paula Mooney.
Mooney told the Daily Mail that she obtained the material through a public records request filed “well before” a disputed July 14 gag order that barred public officials from releasing information or speaking publicly about Gary Jr.’s case.
In the footage, Elizabeth appears to be the only adult not placed in restraints as the family is taken from a black sheriff’s van and brought inside the jail for booking.
Elizabeth Siders, 33, is seen in new footage being searched by a correctional officer after arriving at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail following her June 30 arrest
In another clip, Elizabeth can be seen dressed in a jail-issued orange jumpsuit sitting quietly as she waits in the intake area with a booking officers
The entire family was holed up in this 1,300sq ft single-family home in Hamden, which was filled with human waste, filth and trash, when they were discovered on June 30
The diminutive mother, wearing a baggy pink T-shirt, dark-colored sweats and pink jail sandals, can be seen walking gingerly towards the jail entrance with a female officer by her side.
Inside, her mother-in-law was uncuffed and searched first, as Elizabeth, appearing downcast, looked on. A bespectacled Christina, is seen in gray patterned leggings, trainers, and a T-shirt bearing the message ‘Love one another, y’all.’
As Elizabeth was searched next, she appeared to nurse a mysterious mark on her forearm and attempted to cover it with her hand.
A second booking video shows a wet-haired Elizabeth – now dressed in orange scrubs and taken into booking – cowering with her hands clasped in her lap as she answered the booking officer’s questions.
The young mother looked lost and skittish in several moments during the nine-minute video, gazing around the room and pointing to unknown people off-camera.
According to her booking file, she is listed as a mom of 18, a likely reference to the couple’s conjoined twin girls, Faith and Bailey, who died prematurely – and not pregnant, despite social media rumors to the contrary.
Also shown in the videos, is Elizabeth’s infirm father-in-law who needed help from correctional officers as he struggled to step down from the van.
Despite his disability, he is seen wearing handcuffs as he is taken into the jail in a wheelchair.
Gary Siders Jr, 36, is seen barefoot with jail-issued sandals at his feet as officers complete intake process at the jail
Gary Jr was also seen after changing into jail issued scrubs in the booking area
The couple were two of the four adults arrested and charged with 16 counts of child endangerment after their 16 children were removed from a dilapidated home in Hamden, Ohio, last month. They pled not guilty
After he was taken inside to be searched, the senior, wearing pajama pants and a prison-issued orange top and pink sandals, had to hand over a bizarre list of items including a knife and playing cards – as well as his belt, wallet, lighter and flashlight, his apparent booking file reveals.
Gary Sr was later released from jail on a recognizable bond on July 8 after requiring hospital treatment for a serious medical condition. If he is released, he will have to wear a GPS tag.
Wearing a dirty grey T-shirt, red shorts and pink jail sandals, Elizabeth’s rotund, tattooed husband wore wrist and ankle shackles as officers march him inside to be patted down.
Meanwhile, another officer can be seen using disinfectant wipes to clean the handcuffs and shackles used to restrain the three Siders, a likely necessary measure given the allegedly putrid conditions the family were allegedly living in.
Once inside the jail’s booking area, each adult was changed into an orange prison issue jumpsuit before being placed in a plastic chair and questioned by a booking officer.
In one booking video, Gary Jr, who was claimed in a booking file to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, appears to animatedly point out his several tattoos to the officer.
At one point, when the officer leaves the desk, Gary Jr turns in his chair and smiles and waves to an unknown person off camera. He points to himself, his heart and in the person’s direction.
The Siders have spent almost a month in jail since their June 30 arrest but the Daily Mail has learned they will likely be enjoying better conditions behind bars than at home.
The children’s grandmother, Christina Siders, who is also charged, is searched by a correctional officer as daughter-in-law Elizabeth waits in the background during the family’s booking
Elizabeth’s father-in-law, who needed help from correctional officers as he struggled to step down from the van, was wearing handcuffs as he was taken into the jail in a wheelchair
The grandparents, Christina and Gary Sr, were already living in the rented house when their son and his wife moved in June last year, records show
Inside the SEORJ, which can house up to 230 males and females in gender-split units, inmates like the Siders will enjoy a raft of privileges, including watching TV, attending religious services and even perusing some of the jail library’s 10-20,000 books, a source said.
Inmates like the Siders get five hours of recreation time a week, which they can spend in the jail’s outdoor yard or an inside gym, which is equipped only with wall-fixed equipment, like pull-up bars.
They could be fed dishes such as hot-dogs, casseroles, fruit and vegetables as part of their three square meals a day totaling between 2,800 and 3,200 calories, the source added.
Inmates can also receive money from well-wishers for commissary and receive bibles ordered for them online.
They are permitted one 30-minute visit per week for free – with any further visits costing $5 or $6 each and conducted on a video call kiosk.
So far, the Siders’ only visitors have been their attorneys and Children’s Services officials, according to a report by ABC6.
Inmates, whether they are in minimum, medium or maximum security hold, get access to the same privileges unless they are segregated for disciplinary reasons.
But the jail, the only facility housing mostly pre-trial inmates in southeast Ohio’s five counties of Athens, Hocking, Morgan, Perry, and Vinton, faces significant overcapacity issues.
The Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail can house more than 200 inmates and offers recreation, library access and commissary privileges while defendants await trial
An inspection of the jail by Ohio’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation last July found its female housing dormitory was ‘overcrowded,’ resulting in the jail receiving a failure to comply note on two ‘important’ standards.
The jail complied with 100 per cent of the inspection’s ‘essential’ standards, the report found.
But it seems not everyone is a fan of the jail’s recreational activities.
Anjelica Sheller, who claims to be a former inmate, said her five-day stretch there was ‘torturously boring’ and all she had to read was ‘Christian romance novels.’
‘The TV stays on all day and sounds like s**t. None of the pencils are sharpened. No darkness. The meth-heads stay up late and are so loud,’ she wrote in a Facebook post last year.
She apparently wasn’t a fan of the food either, claiming inmates were once given a meal resembling and smelling like ‘dog food,’ prompting a wave of complaints.
‘All in all, biggest complaint was that the boredom was torture. Outside time on a concrete slab for not long enough,’ she added.
Sheller did not respond to the Daily Mail’s requests for an interview about her claims.
Debris could be seen through an open window of the home
Pieces of discarded furniture, cardboard boxes, and trash were also seen strewn across the front yard
At any rate, the Siders might be in for an extended jail stretch as it could be ‘over a year’ before any of them stand trial, according to Jim Payne, an ex-Vinton County Prosecuting attorney and former judge of the county’s Court of Common Pleas.
He told the Daily Mail the Siders’ attorneys will take their time preparing their client’s defense strategy amid the huge national and international interest in the case.
He surmised they may have waived their preliminary hearings to avoid more ‘gruesome’ details becoming public before they have a gameplan in place.
‘I will say this: It’s going to be over a year before this case ever considers going to trial.
‘The attorneys are going to waive a speedy trial, because [they] don’t want to rush forward and then have some appellate attorney say ‘well [he] screwed up, he didn’t even file this motion or that motion or do this.’
‘In a closer case, some clients might say, “Hey, I’m not guilty. Why am I sitting here in Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail? I want my trial now”.’
‘They might say, “Well, okay, we’re going to press it and have the trial within a certain like a 90-day time frame.”
Christina Siders and her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Siders, 33. They each face 16 charges of child endangerment and have pled not guilty
Gary Siders Jr, 36, and his 73-year-old father, Gary Siders Sr, who were arraigned on the string of charges on July 1 and pled not guilty
‘But in this case, it’s going to be, “we’re going to keep waiting” to see the results of certain competency [evaluations].’
Gary Siders Sr is facing a judge-ordered mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial and whether he is not guilty by reason of insanity, court papers show.
Payne said the court system in Vinton, one of Ohio’s smallest and poorest counties, may move more slowly due to its limited time and resources.
He said the next step is for Grand Jury to decide whether or not to indict the Siders, which has yet to happen.
‘In a small county like [Vinton], we normally don’t only have grand juries every couple months, unless we have a murder or something high profile,’ he added.
It comes as Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer begged local commissioners for an additional $20,000 to help fund the expanding child endangerment case, as reported by ABC6.
During a July 14 public meeting, Archer reportedly said ‘the case is getting a life of its own’ and that while he had voluntary help from another county prosecutor and the Attorney General’s office, he needed more cash for overtime and other costs.
It was also revealed during the meeting that Vinton County is seeking ‘permanent custody of the children’ in upcoming juvenile court cases, according to a minute of the meeting shared on the Vinton County Commissioners Facebook.
Inside the SEORJ, which can house up to 230 male and females in gender-split units, inmates like the Siders will enjoy a raft of privileges, including watching TV, attending religious services and the jail’s library
The children are currently in foster care and the Ohio Controlling Board previously released $1 million in funding for their upkeep.
But Archer urged commissioners to seek more state funds for the children’s care.
It comes as Elizabeth Siders’s attorney, Tommy Stolly, rejected Wilson’s previous comments that the Siders kids were ‘almost feral animals’ when they were found and offered an extraordinary explanation for their appalling living conditions.
‘This is very clearly a case where my client and the Siders family were living in extreme poverty,’ Stolly told NewsNation’s Cuomo Crime Time in an interview.
‘What she’s [Elizabeth] said to me is that with 16 kids, things could get messy fast,’ Stolly added.
‘I don’t know more beyond that.’
Dorian Baum, Gary Siders Sr’s attorney, said he is skeptical the case against his client is a ‘criminal matter’ and hit back at Wilson’s early comments about the Siders’ squalid living conditions.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘This has smacked from the very beginning to me – and there’s been nothing to dissuade me from this opinion – that this is a bit of the state criminalizing poverty.
‘It should have been filed as an abuse-neglect-dependency action in juvenile court, and very little more after that, if anything.
‘Frankly, the real trauma done to this family has been by law enforcement going in with guns ready to frighten [them].’
He accused Wilson of making ‘hyperbolic’ and ‘exaggerated’ comments about the Siders’ living conditions and using their case ‘to score political points a couple of weeks into his appointment.’
Asked about the jail booking footage, Attorney Baum called it ‘wholly inappropriate’ and said it offered no ‘probative value’ other than to unfairly ‘paint these people out as criminals.’
‘…All it does, specifically for my client, is it continues to paint a picture that he’s a person who has significant physical health issues.’
Meanwhile, Gary Jr is separately facing four public indecency charges linked to incidents when he allegedly exposed himself to strangers outside the Hamden house at the end of May, according to court documents obtained by the Mail.
He has pleaded not guilty. A pre-trial hearing initially scheduled for Thursday this week was continued for a second time to August 13.
R Lee Roberts Jr, who represents Gary Siders Jr, declined to comment on the footage or the allegations, telling the Daily Mail: ‘I will not be making public statements about Mr Siders at any point during the pendency of these cases.’
