The incarcerated mother of 16 kids rescued from a feces-filled house of horrors in Ohio is fighting to be reunited with the “almost feral” children she has been charged with inflicting unimaginable abuse upon.
Elizabeth Siders, 33, is one of four family members charged with 16 counts of child endangerment after the kids — ages 1-18 — were found living in squalor and isolation inside a cramped 12-by-12 room in a scene Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson called “pure evil.”
Her lawyer, J. Thomas Stolly, requested a recognizance bond for Silders last week that would let her leave the jail under certain conditions, arguing her lack of criminal history should make her eligible for time away from Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, where she’s being held on $300,000 bond.
“Through conversations with Counsel, the Defendant maintains that her principal desire (is) to reunite with her children; she understands that reunification of any sort is an impossibility if she does not appear before this Court,” a court filing obtained by WOWK 13 reads.
The filing goes on to say that Siders would be no threat to the children as they’re no longer under her care, and that she wants to be with them again and clear her name.
A judge has yet to rule on the request.
The young victims were mostly confined to the cramped space at their home in the small village of Hamden for at least the past four years, according to authorities, who have described the grisly scene as “deplorable” and “third-world” — and even said local livestock have better conditions than the kids did.
The children were taken to hospitals across Ohio after the rescue.
Some were listed in serious condition, including two who were airlifted to trauma centers and at least one who had to be intubated, officials said.
The children, who were never enrolled in school, can barely communicate — and some cannot speak at all, authorities said.
The oldest child, 18, is developmentally disabled and unable to even write her name, according to investigators.
Grandparents Gary Siders Sr., 73, and Christina “Lynn” Siders, 67, were arrested alongside their son, Gary “Bub” Siders Jr., 36, and his wife, Elizabeth Siders, 33, and each slapped with 16 counts of felony child endangerment charges.
The younger couple is believed to be the biological parents of all 16 children, officials said.
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