Gary Siders Sr., the grandfather involved in the Ohio “House of Horrors” case, has had all of his child endangerment charges dropped after a judge deemed him unfit to stand trial.
Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers made the ruling that Siders Sr., 73, was mentally unfit to stand trial in a Tuesday, October 6, court order viewed by People. In light of the decision, all of the criminal charges he was facing have now been dismissed.
Dr. Daniel D. Hrinko, Psy.D., performed the evaluation on Siders Sr. prior to the ruling. Fetherolf Rogers said in the order that the doctor “did not state a conclusion as to restorability, but opined that based on the nature of Mr. Siders’ condition, a finding of unrestorability could be supported.”
Fetherolf Rogers added that the findings led her to dismiss all of the charges against Siders Sr. without prejudice, meaning that a plaintiff or prosecutor can refile charges in the future.
The order also stated that the court will not give up its legal authority over Siders Sr.’s case until it is taken up by the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division. That court is now responsible to get Siders Sr. into an appropriate facility to treat his unspecified mental illness.
Siders Sr. was released from custody after the court determined that his medical problems and weekly hospital visits did not make him a flight risk.
It is not currently clear when his civil commitment proceedings will begin. Fetherolf Rogers noted in her order that all relevant records from his evaluation will be transferred to the court ahead of the proceedings.
Gary Sr. was arrested alongside his wife, Christina Siders, their son Gary Siders II and his wife, Elizabeth Siders, in June after authorities discovered they were living in squalor conditions with the younger couple’s 16 children.
Deputies visited the family’s home for an unrelated case, but alerted officials about the condition of the residence and reported that the children were confined to a single room.
The 16 children, who are between the ages of 18 months and 18 years, were rescued within hours, and all of the adult family members were arrested.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson opened up about the conditions of the home during a press conference at the time. “I think if they would have waited another 24 hours, there was a very high probability that we’d be dealing with a death or multiple deaths of these children,” he said.
Wilson said the children behaved “almost like feral animals,” adding that seven of them were taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
Following the rescue, the children are now in the care of the county. Meanwhile, Christina, 68, Gary II, 36, and Elizabeth, 33, remain in jail with their bail having been set at $300,000.
Christina, Gary and Elizabeth have all been charged with 19 counts of child endangerment, while the couple has also been indicted on additional charges after they were accused of engaging “in sexual conduct with a minor more than 10 years younger than their own age.”
All three have entered not guilty pleas to all charges.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
