The mother at the center of an Ohio “house of horrors” case — where authorities say 16 children described as “almost feral” were discovered in a feces-filled home — was married when she was just 15, only two months before having her first child.
Elizabeth Siders, now 33, legally wed Gary Siders Jr., then 18, in Mason County, West Virginia, in 2008, according to WSYX.
Records show that two months after the marriage, she gave birth to the oldest child tied to the case — now 18 — who was later removed from a home in Vinton County, Ohio, along with 15 other children.
At that time, West Virginia had “no age minimum to marry,” and a 15-year-old could legally wed with parental consent, said Amanda Alexander, a family law attorney in the state.
Alexander said that while “the judge absolutely could have stopped this marriage,” the law did not obligate the court to conduct an investigation before approving it.
Siders also reportedly gave birth to two other children — conjoined twins — who died within hours of being born.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed how many of the 16 children are Siders’ biological children. Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer said at a news conference Wednesday that he could not verify whether all of the children’s birth certificates had been located.
Siders’ attorney, Tommy Stolley, said he believes she is the mother of all 16 children, whose ages range from 17 months to 18 years old.
He is also looking into whether his client could be a victim herself.
“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,” he told the Associated Press.
“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.”
Stolley said that Siders left high school after the 11th grade.
Ronnie Fletcher, who’s married to one of the grandparents’ adult daughters, told local news outlet WOWK 13 that she had a rough upbringing.
“She did not have a very good home life when they got together, and she escaped to Lynn [Christina] and Gary’s house, which … was back then a normal American home,” he said of her relationship to Siders Jr.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, a man identifying himself as Siders’ brother claimed his sister had been “indoctrinated” and said he had only recently reconnected with her after 15 years apart, Los Angeles Magazine reported.
He also referenced welfare and said “the state knows something” about his sister, but didn’t provide any evidence or further details supporting his statements.
The house in the small town of Hamden was plagued by years of horrifying abuse and neglect, according to authorities.
Conditions inside the feces-strewn house were described as “horrific” by authorities, with the situation investigators encountered “pure evil,” according to Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson.
Siders is one of four family members charged in the investigation, including her husband and her in-laws, Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders.
They collectively face 68 felony child endangerment charges, with all 16 children allegedly suffering serious physical harm, according to prosecutors.
All four have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed on $300,000 bond.
Prosecutors said that Siders Sr. had been released from jail on a recognizance bond after suffering a medical episode.
Upon inspection by doctors, it was discovered that the father-in-law has a serious medical condition that needs care.
If he is released from the hospital, he will have a GPS tracker, and competency motions have been filed for him, Archer said.
The 16 children were removed from the home and placed in the temporary custody of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The investigation remains ongoing, with additional evidence and possible extra charges emerging in the coming weeks, according to prosecutors.
With Post wires
