Parents and grandparents charged after 16 children found living in squalor in Ohio | US News

The parents and grandparents of 16 children found living in a “disgusting” home with “signs of human faeces” have appeared at a US court via videolink.

Gary Siders Sr, 73; Christina Siders, 67; Gary Siders Jr, 36; and Elizabeth Siders, 33; have been charged with second-degree felony child endangering in the state of Ohio.

The 16 boys and girls, whose ages range from 18 months to 18 years, were discovered living in “deplorable” conditions inside a small, dilapidated rural property in the village of Hamden, and some were in dire need of medical treatment, said officials.

Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain called the home “disgusting”, saying it showed signs of human excrement. He believes the children were being kept in a 12ft by 12ft room for nearly four years.

Officials said that some of the youngsters cannot communicate at all, and others have “limited” speech.

“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” Mr Cain said at a news conference.

Ohio attorney general Andy Wilson said he could not get the smell of the home “away from me”.

He called the scene the worst he had ever encountered in his career, describing what he discovered as “pure evil”.

He said the conditions “really looked third world”, adding: “It’s just almost beyond comprehension.”

It appeared the children spent most of their time in just one room for much of the four years they lived there, Mr Wilson said.

He also said the family was “pretty good at hiding these kids” and seemed to have moved around Ohio before settling in Vinton County about four years ago. The home was owned by a trust.

“Some of these children couldn’t even speak,” Mr Wilson said. “It was terrible. They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible.”

The children have been taken to hospital. Some have since been examined and released.

One of them was placed in intensive care at one point, Mr Wilson said, and two were flown to trauma centres because of their injuries.

None of the children have been enrolled in school, and the eldest – aged 18 and described as developmentally disabled – could not spell her own name.

At their court hearing in Vinton County, a judge entered not guilty pleas on the four defendants’ behalf.

Each of them was ordered to be held on a bond of $300,000 and barred from contacting one another or the youngsters.