All the insights we’ve had into Elizabeth Siders, from statements and prison visits

Last week, it was first reported that 16 children aged between one and 18 had been found living in a home in Ohio in what authorities described as “deplorable” conditions. It was said their mother is a woman named Elizabeth Siders, who is married to a man called Gary Siders Jr.

The 16 children were rescued from the home, after allegedly being kept like “feral animals” in a 12ft room for four years. In an update this week, it was said the children, who were taken to hospital, are now “safe and being cared for”.

Elizabeth Siders and Gary Siders Jr, along with Gary’s parents Gary Sr and Christine Siders, were arrested and charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment. They have all pleaded not guilty, and Gary Siders Sr has since been released.

Elizabeth confirmed to her lawyer, who has been visiting her in prison, that all 16 children are hers and said she married their father, Gary Siders Jr, when she was just 15.

Her lawyer, Thomas Stolly, has since visited Elizabeth Sellers three times, and through this and various other press statements and posts about the case, we’ve learned more about the mother.

via Southern Ohio Regional Jail

She looked ‘distraught’ when she was arrested

Stolly had an hour-and-a-half long meeting with the mother straight after she was arrested, and claimed she was “timid,” “exhausted” and “fragile”.

He told Criminally Obsessed: “I had no idea what I was walking into. I saw the same headlines everyone else did. At one point, the term ‘pure evil’ was used to describe Elizabeth and the home and at another point, there was a comment that livestock had been treated better.

“I met a woman who was timid and who was exhausted. It looked like she had been crying quite a bit. She looked distraught. And she was willing to talk to me. Able to talk to me.

“We sat down for about an hour-and-a-half to go through the basics of this case. I asked her if she had seen any of the coverage that has been online for the better part of a day now. She hasn’t. She does not know how the home, the conditions, the investigation is being described.”

The lawyer for Elizabeth Siders has claimed she’s ‘not evil’ and only cared if the children were ok

After Elizabeth Siders was arrested, the lawyer working for her pushed back at reports his client is “evil”, and instead shared what she said to him that proved otherwise.

Thomas Stolly told the Associated Press she was “crying and exhausted” when he met with her, and the first thing she asked was if her children were ok.

“In fact, my client’s first question to me when I walked into the jail and introduced myself was about her kids. She asked if her children were ok, she asked if I knew where they were, and she asked when she’d be able to see them again,” Stolly said. “I thought it was telling that her first concern was not, ‘When can I get out of jail,’ but was ‘Are my children ok?’”

The lawyer said that “evil requires malice” and he “did not see any malice in Elizabeth”.

via Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson

A man claiming to be Elizabeth’s brother has been talking about the case on Facebook

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Jeremy Russell, who claims to be Elizabeth’s brother, has shared a series of emotional Facebook posts about the case. Some of his claims have not been verified by investigators.

In one post, Russell claimed he had only recently reconnected with his sister after 15 years apart. “My sister just rapped her life up. Due to indoctrination. It is 100 per cent real,” he wrote. “I met this dude couple months ago. Shook my hand like a baby would super soft hands. Definitely never worked a day in his life.”

Russell added: “I should have took him out that night. I was thinking about it but my sister. I was happy to see. Been 15 years. You lost touch with your family followed another look what happened.”

In another post, Russell shared his own opinion about the case. “This what I think. Slap on the wrist. You can not be charge for ignorance,” he wrote. He also said: “The horror stories is not true, nothing is true.”

Russell went on to write: “My sister and her husband really did do their best to their IQ. Allowance is the one to blame. Low IQ, getting that money.”

He added: “Everything is misunderstood. Their hygiene. Low IQ. The man of the house is responsible at most. He is the leader, leading followers. That’s what I think.”

The lawyer for Elizabeth Siders has also shared new claims about conditions the 16 children were living in

via YouTube/10TV

Elizabeth’s attorney Tommy Stolley claimed in a new interview with 10TV that there is “no evidence” the children had been forced to stay in the room and were in fact “free” to leave. In the interview, he was asked if the children were “forced to stay inside” to which he claimed they were not.

“I don’t think that we have seen any evidence to prove that,” he said. “There has been no evidence to suggest that there were any restraints in the home, that the children were locked or forced to remain in the 12 by 12 room.

“There’s no indication that the kids were not free to move about the home. There’s no indication from my conversations with my client that the kids were not allowed to go outside.”

The lawyer also claimed the children had phones, and the older kids had access to social media. “They had little inside jokes,” he said.

She’s been receiving care packages in jail

Elizabeth’s attorney also said she has been receiving care packages to prison, and he has requested she be released. He said Elizabeth has told him “repeatedly” that she “wanted a big family” with husband Gary Siders.

Investigators haven’t said whether Elizabeth Siders is a victim

Authorities have not yet said whether Elizabeth Siders is also being treated as a possible victim in the ongoing investigation. When asked about that last week, Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said: “That is all still part of the ongoing investigation at this time. We can’t continue on that.”

West Virginia family law attorney Amanda Alexander added: “Did she receive prenatal care as a minor? How many kids did she have as a minor? Did Job and Family Services look into it at that point? So, we didn’t get to the point that there were 16 children living in the basement.”

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