Ohio Mother’s First Question After 16 Children Were Rescued Was Whether They Were Safe, Lawyer Says

Elizabeth Siders’ attorney is pushing back against officials’ “pure evil” description after her 16 children were found in dire conditions after enduring prolonged and extreme neglect and isolation.

The attorney representing the mother of 16 children rescued from an Ohio home says her first concern after her arrest was finding out whether her children were safe.

Elizabeth Siders, 33, appeared distressed and exhausted when attorney Thomas Stolly met with her at the Vinton County Jail, according to interviews he gave to ABC 6.

Stolly said Siders immediately asked: “Are the kids okay? When can I see the kids?”

She also wanted to know where the children had been taken, he said. Stolly argued that it was significant that Siders asked about the children before asking when she might be released.

However, the questions Siders reportedly asked after her arrest do not resolve the serious allegations against her or explain the conditions authorities say the children endured.

Investigators discovered the 16 children on June 30 while executing court-authorized search warrants at a residence on Ohmer Street in Hamden, approximately 60 miles southeast of Columbus.

The children ranged in age from approximately 18 months to 18 years old, and had apparently spent much of the previous four years confined to a room measuring roughly 12 feet by 12 feet.

Human waste was found around the home, and some of the children were unable to speak. An 18-year-old with developmental disabilities reportedly could not write her own name.

Seven children were transported to Columbus-area hospitals, including two who were flown by helicopter for advanced treatment. At least one was initially listed in critical condition.

Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson described what investigators encountered as “pure evil.” In a July 1 statement, his office said investigators believed the case involved “prolonged and extreme interfamilial neglect and abuse.”

Wilson said evidence uncovered after the initial search had reinforced his assessment of the home.

Stolly, however, said the woman he met did not match the image he had formed after hearing officials’ descriptions.

“Evil requires malice,” the attorney told reporters, adding that he did not believe he saw malice in Siders during their initial meeting.

Stolly suggested the case could ultimately be understood as a “case of isolation” rather than one driven by evil intentions. He stressed that he had only recently been appointed and had not yet received the prosecution’s evidence when he made the comments.

According to Stolly, Siders married Gary Siders Jr., the children’s alleged father, when she was 15 years oldElizabeth Siders Was 15 When Her Parents and a Judge Approved Her Marriage. By 33, She Had Given Birth to 16 Children.. The attorney said all 16 children are biologically theirs and were born at hospitals in the region, although law enforcement officials had not independently confirmed all of those family details when the case was first announced.

Stolly said Siders considered herself a full-time mother and had left high school after the 11th grade. He also said she did not describe herself as a victim when he questioned her about her circumstances.

Still, the attorney suggested that spending nearly her entire adult life within an isolated family environment may have shaped what Siders considered normal.

He urged the public to allow the criminal investigation and court process to develop before deciding precisely how responsibility should be divided among the four adults charged in the case.

Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders have each been charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangering. Not-guilty pleas were entered on their behalf, and bond was set at $300,000 for each defendant.

The children remain in the temporary custody of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services while authorities continue investigating how the family allegedly remained outside the reach of schools, medical providers and child-welfare agencies for years.

Investigators said the family had lived in several Ohio counties since 2008 and appeared to have largely avoided creating medical and government records. The local school district said it had no record of the children ever being enrolled.

Although Stolly believes his client’s first questions reveal concern for her children, prosecutors and investigators are expected to focus on what happened inside the home before authorities arrived—and on how 16 children allegedly reached such severe states of isolation, developmental delay and medical distress.