House of Horrors mom insists her kids were NOT ‘feral’, as lawyer reveals her incredulous excuse for their ‘messy’ home
A mom accused of abusing her 16 children has denied they lived like ‘feral animals,’ as her lawyer offered an explanation for their ‘messy’ house of horrors.
The youngsters were rescued from a dilapidated home in Hamden, Ohio, last month while living in what the state attorney general described as ‘third-world’ conditions.
‘They looked like almost feral animals,’ Andy Wilson said, according to WTVG. ‘It was terrible.’
Elizabeth Siders, the 33-year-old mother of the youngsters, was one of the four adults arrested and charged with 16 counts of child endangerment.
Authorities said the boys and girls, who ranged from 18 months to 18 years old, lived in a home covered with human feces.
Siders’ attorney, Tommy Stolly, rejected Wilson’s accusations and pushed back on claims that her kids were ‘almost feral animals.’
‘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.
‘What she’s said to me is that with 16 kids, things could get messy fast,’ Stolly later added. ‘I don’t know more beyond that.’
Elizabeth Siders, 33, was charged with 16 counts of child endangerment after her 16 children were removed from a dilapidated home in Hamden, Ohio, on June 30
The children allegedly lived in a home that was littered with human feces that resembled ‘third world’ conditions, authorities said
Siders’ attorney, Tommy Stolly, rejected that the kids were ‘almost feral,’ claiming that she had told him they could speak, as he appeared on Cuomo Crime Time
Stolly claimed that Siders’ children ‘could talk’ and had spoken ‘when the police came in.’
‘These kids, you have to remember, were terrified when … multiple police officers from multiple agencies with a battering ram came in serving this search warrant,’ he told host Chris Cuomo.
Siders’ lawyer responded ‘yes’ when directly asked whether some of the children could speak, but said he had not yet had the chance to talk to any of them.
He explained that the accused mother had told him that the youngsters could speak.
‘If we’re talking about feral children, those are children who do not understand the world,’ Stolly said.
He added: ‘If the kids can speak, I think that changes the analysis.’
Stolly also suggested that the Siders family might have been living in a ‘different reality’ than most people are accustomed to.
‘You’re living in a home and that’s what you’ve known for years and years, you don’t necessarily see how bad things have gotten,’ he said.
Siders’ attorney said that ‘this [was] truly the case’ in southeast Ohio, as he acknowledged that he would not live in the house.
Siders’ husband, Gary Siders Jr, 36, and his dad, Gary Sr, 73, were also arrested and face charges of child endangerment. Both have pleaded not guilty
Christina ‘Lynn’ Siders, 67, was also arrested and charged with 16 counts of child endangerment. She is Gary Jr’s mother and pleaded not guilty to all charges
Authorities believe that the children were kept in a tiny room for nearly four years in conditions that Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain claimed were not better than most livestock
Siders’ husband, 36-year-old Gary Siders Jr, and his parents, 73-year-old Gary Siders Sr and 67-year-old Christina ‘Lynn’ Siders, also lived on the squalid property.
They were arrested and each charged with 16 counts of child endangerment, as well.
All of the Siders pleaded not guilty on July 1 and waived their preliminary hearings on July 7, according to NewsNation.
Siders, Gary Jr and Christina are being held on $300,000 bonds.
Meanwhile, Gary Sr was released on bail last week as he needed hospitalization for a ‘severe’ medical condition, WCMH reported.
Stolly previously asked for Siders to be released on a recognizance bond, which means that she would not have to pay to leave jail.
Siders’ main desire was to ‘reunite with her children,’ Stolly said in a motion reported by the Columbus Dispatch.
He added that ‘she understands that reunification of any sort is an impossibility if she does not appear before this court.’
The state has custody of the 16 children, according to the outlet.
Gary Sr was released on bail last week because he needed to be hospitalized for a ‘severe’ medical condition
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said the children had been living in ‘unimaginable conditions’
Authorities said that they had encountered ‘pure evil’ inside the home
After pulling the children from the so-called house of horrors, authorities said that investigators had found ‘pure evil’ inside the property.
Yost said that the children were forced to endure ‘unimaginable conditions’ that were arduous for people, let alone kids.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain explained that the home was littered with feces.
Cain also described a small room where investigators believe the children were kept for nearly four years.
‘Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,’ he said.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Stolly for comment.
