Gary Siders Senior, 73, has been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial after his 16 grandchildren were found living in conditions described as worse than livestock. The children were rescued on June 30 from a dilapidated property in Hamden, southern Ohio, roughly 80 miles (129 kilometres) south of Columbus.
Court appearance and mental health assessment
Siders appeared in court in a wheelchair on Wednesday. His lawyer, Dorian Baum, told the judge that Siders' mental health has been deteriorating for years and is "not restorable."
Baum stated: "It's not really a surprise to any of us that he's not been found competent at this point. He doesn't fully understand or appreciate what's going on."
Conditions of the children's rescue
The children were found in a three-and-a-half square metre property smeared with human waste. They ranged in age from 18 years to just 18 months old. Some were unable to speak and were described as "feral" when found.
The children were not registered in school, the family had moved frequently over the past two decades, and neighbours reported they had never seen the kids.
Family background and charges
Siders faced 16 counts of child endangerment. His wife, Christina Siders; son Gary Siders Jr; and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Siders, the mother of the children, have all pleaded not guilty.
Court records reveal that the eldest child was born in May 2008, two months after Gary Siders Jr, then 18, and Elizabeth, then 15, crossed into West Virginia to marry at the Mason County Courthouse with her parents' consent. Since then, Elizabeth has been pregnant nearly every year.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson characterised the conditions in which the children were discovered as "pure evil."
