WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTETN: The lawyer for Christina Siders, the grandmother in the Ohio ‘House of Horrors’ case, has claimed she was the ‘only adult’ in the home.
Christina Siders (Image: Southeast Ohio Jail)
The lawyer of Christina Siders, the grandmother in the Ohio ‘House of Horrors’ case, claimed that she was the “only adult in the home” looking after the family.
“Defendant paid for rent, utilities and other necessities in the home,” the says in a motion.
“Despite her own medical conditions, was also tasked with caring for her husband and his significant medical needs and physical limitations.”
The lawyer has also requested a reduced bond to allow her to live close to family members.
“The nature and circumstances of the crimes charged, despite initial hyperbolic statements by officials and excessive public speculation and media coverage, involve no evidence that the alleged acts involved violence, physical harm, weapons, or an ongoing threat to public safety,” the motion adds.
“The available facts indicate that the charges pertain to allegations that Defendant, along with her husband, permitted her son, her daughter-in-law, and their children to reside in her home.
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Christina Siders was seen wearing gray leggings and gray t-shirt while being searched in jail(Image: SOUTHEASTERN OHIO REGIONAL JAIL)
“There is no evidence that Defendant participated in any acts of abuse causing serious physical harm to any of the alleged victims.”
Earlier in July, the children, aged 20 months to 18 years, were removed from the family’s home in Hamden, Ohio, on June 30. They were discovered while officers were executing a search warrant on a separate charge regarding the children’s father, Gary Siders II, 36.
According to police, Siders had allegedly exposed himself to members of the public on four separate occasions in May. Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said the children were packed into a single 12-foot-by-12-foot room “covered in bugs and squatting,” with a “distant look in their eyes.”
“They looked like almost feral animals,” Wilson said. “It was terrible.”
Siders and his wife, Elizabeth Siders, were revealed to be the biological parents of all of the children. The couple was arrested along with Siders’ parents, Christina Siders and Gary Siders Sr., and charged with 16 counts of child neglect.
Elizabeth Siders confirmed that she was the children’s mother, meaning she was giving birth nearly every year over the course of 18 years. She gave birth to her first child at 15, the same year she married an 18-year-old, Gary Siders II, in West Virginia.
All of the adults arrested have pleaded not guilty. A gag order has been imposed on several defendants as the investigation remains ongoing. Gary Siders II has also been charged with four misdemeanor counts of public indecency.