Ohio pastor ‘astounded’ as he details jarring interactions with 16 rescued kids and their gran

In new quotes from a local pastor, grandmother Christina Siders was painted in a somewhat positive light after 16 kids were taken from the family earlier this month. It’s a far cry from the “pure evil” descriptions we earlier heard.

Alongside her husband, son, and daughter-in-law, Christina Siders, 67, was arrested and charged after police found 16 kids living in “deplorable” conditions compared to “third world” countries. Though we’ve learned quite a few details about Gary Siders Sr, Gary Siders Jr, and Elizabeth Siders, Christina was the outlier in the group. All we really learned is that she signed off on her son marrying a 15-year-old when he was 18.

Though neighbours in Hamden, Ohio, earlier claimed to be in the dark about the kids, other neighbours had brief interactions with Christina and her family. 60-year-old Joe Stewart said he saw some of the kids walking with their grandmother.

Credit: WOUB

A pastor interacted with Christina Siders frequently

“She came here every week for two years and she took as much food as I allowed her to take – produce, vegetables, fruit, breads, pastas, six pounds of meat,” a local pastor, who declined to be identified, told the MailOnline.

“When she first came, she told us she had 16 kids and we were giving her extra food. Then we got to thinking: ‘Come on, no one can have that many kids in that house.'”

Describing the grandmother as “cordial and sweet”, particularly with the kids, the pastor said it was “difficult” to learn what was happening behind closed doors.

Credit: Southern Ohio Regional Jail

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He added: “It’s very difficult for me to understand. When you have people coming to you, like Mrs Siders was, and she was getting as much food as she could get to take to her family, that makes you think that she cared.

“Then when you see the other side of this, you shake your head and go, ‘How, why?’ I was oblivious to what was going on in the house, and when I found out, I was astounded.”

Though other people who interacted with the family recalled a foul stench, the pastor said they always smelled okay.

“The girls were quiet, very shy, extremely shamefaced. They never really communicated with me, but they would whisper to her,” he noted. “But they never showed any sign of abuse, they never showed any sign of being hungry. There was no stench or smell from them when they came.”

This proves recent points made by a judge in Vinton County who issued a gag order on officials investigating the case. Incendiary language like “pure evil” and “disgusting” does get the point across, but it’s never that black and white.

The legal process must continue unhindered, and without bias.

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Featured image credit: Facebook/Southern Ohio Regional Jail