(NewsNation) — The grandparents of 16 children rescued from a Vinton County, Ohio, home were receiving state assistance when authorities intervened, the county prosecutor said.
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer addressed questions from reporters about how the household supported itself, saying, “Grandpa and grandma were the only ones I’m aware of that were receiving (state) benefits at the time of this incident.” Archer did not clarify what type of aid they received, leaving unclear whether the benefits involved Social Security, food assistance or another state-supported program.
Four adults were arrested June 30 on child endangerment charges after investigators said they found the children living in filthy, unsafe conditions. Those charged were Gary Siders Sr., 73; Christina Siders, 66; Gary Siders Jr., 36; and Elizabeth Siders, 33, who is the children’s mother. Authorities have described the children as appearing nearly “feral.”
Gary Siders Jr., believed to be the children’s father, had been working as a DoorDash delivery driver, according to multiple reports.
“Only the grandparents were being supported by the state. I don’t think that Gary Siders was even working, but if he was working, he was working as a DoorDash driver or delivery driver,” independent crime and entertainment reporter Lauren Conlin said on Chris Cuomo’s podcast, “Cuomo Crime Time.”
The case has raised new questions about how the adults could have had contact with government benefit systems while the 16 children appeared to remain off the radar. Officials have said there were no school records, no medical records and no prior involvement from Child Protective Services before authorities executed a search warrant for Gary Siders Jr. on unrelated charges.
NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo contrasted the case to the Jaycee Lee Dugard case, in which government officials made visits to the abductors’ house and somehow missed Dugard, who was 11 when she was kidnapped and 18 when she was freed.
“You did have government people coming to check multiple times, and they were able to elude capture. Here, that doesn’t seem to be the case,” Cuomo said.
He proposed it could be that the Siders moved around a lot and slipped through the cracks in rural places.
“The intentionality is evidenced by the frequent moving around because that does suggest they were aware of the wrongdoing, they were trying to evade that and they had the wherewithal to do that. Moving isn’t easy,” defense attorney Ben Chew said.
