Gary Siders Sr’s role in 16 kids rescued from bug-infested home, as he’s released by police

Gary Siders Sr, the grandfather of the now-viral Siders family, was released by the police last week after being arrested and charged with second-degree felony child endangerment.

When police sought to arrest Gary’s son for unrelated public indecency charges, they stumbled upon 16 kids in a dirty, bug-infested 12-by-12 room. The grandfather was arrested alongside his wife, Christine, son, Gary Siders Jr, and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth. If found guilty, they could all be jailed for nearly 200 years.

Here’s everything we’ve learned about him so far.

Gary Siders Sr consented to his son’s marriage

Marriage records from Ohio showed that Elizabeth and Gary Jr got married when she was 15, and he was 18. Their first kid, now 18, was born two months after that. Though we’re yet to hear anything about or from Elizabeth’s parents, records confirmed that both sets signed off on the marriage.

Elizabeth’s brother, Jeremy Russell, has since claimed that she was “indoctrinated” by the family.

“My sister just rapped her life up. Due to indoctrination. It is 100 per cent real,” he said.

Credit: Southern Ohio Regional Jail

The grandfather was rushed to the hospital after his arrest

At a press conference last week, Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer said that the grandad experienced a medical emergency during transport. He had fallen in the police van, and though medical aid was given, it quickly became clear that the county was not equipped to deal with it.

The official did not go into details about the array of medical issues, because of HIPAA, but he did allude to the issues being “significant” and potentially life-threatening.

Gary Siders Sr, whose mobility is poor, was taken to a nearby hospital and then moved to a specialist facility that could address his medical needs.

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“Based on the information that we were provided, his medical care could potentially bankrupt Vinton County,” he said. “We were not going to put that burden also on our local taxpayers, so it was agreed that we would do a recognisance bond.”

If released after medical care, Gary Sr won’t be remanded back into custody. Instead, he’ll be released with a GPS tracker. His bond was amended to a recognisance bond to reflect that.

“The community is not at risk because of this bond,” the County Prosecutor said.

Gary Sr might not stand trial

Credit: WSYX

At the same press conference, the prosecutor said that Gary Sr’s lawyer had officially filed the paperwork to declare him incompetent to stand trial. Instead, he’d be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

“Just by looking at him, my first impression is that I have concerns about his competence. I have concerns about his mental health. I have concerns about his ability to assist in his own defence. These are all things that are bedrock, bedrock conditions you need to move forward in any case,” Gary Sr’s lawyer, Dorian Baum, said.

“So my first initial talking with him essentially is going to be, you know, is this a person who we need to evaluate for whether or not he’s competent to stand trial? Is this a person who is potentially not guilty by reason of insanity or any of the other possible defences?”

The judge is yet to rule on that, but a grand jury is going ahead.

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Featured image credit: Southern Ohio Regional Jail