Ohio mom of 16 children discovered residing in squalid house pleads not responsible to endangering her kids

The mom of 16 kids discovered living in squalid conditions in an Ohio home has pleaded not responsible to endangering her kids, in addition to sexual battery of a minor in a separate case.

Elizabeth Siders, 34, appeared in Vinton County courtroom Wednesday for her arraignment. She was arrested June 30 alongside together with her husband, Gary Siders Jr., and her in-laws Gary Siders Sr. and Christina Siders.

Elizabeth Siders pleaded not responsible to 19 counts of kid endangerment within the case associated to her kids. Prosecutors mentioned that the youngsters have been present in horrific situations, in a house plagued by feces, and that a few of the kids have been unable to talk.

She additionally pleaded not responsible to 2 prices every of sexual battery and illegal sexual conduct with a minor in a separate case. NBC News has reached out to her lawyer for remark.

Siders and her husband have been indicted Aug. 21 in the sexual battery case.

The indictments accuse Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders of sexual abuse towards a minor, who was between the ages of 13 and 16 in 2022.

The indictments point out the sufferer was not certainly one of Elizabeth Siders’ kids, however they describe her as performing “in loco parentis,” which means she was chargeable for the sufferer’s care.

She hung her head in courtroom when a choose ordered her Wednesday to don’t have any contact together with her kids, the minor sufferer or her husband.

The choose set her bond at $250,000, on prime of her $300,000 youngster endangerment bond. She remained in jail Thursday.

Her protection lawyer, Thomas Stolly, instructed the choose she misses her kids and questioned whether or not she herself is a sufferer.

“We have a person in Elizabeth who was married at age 15, who has basically been pregnant for the higher a part of twenty years, who has by no means absolutely gone by any postpartum interval,” Stolly mentioned, based on NBC affiliate WSAZ of Huntington, West Virginia.

He mentioned he was involved concerning the results she could endure given the repeated births and an absence of normal medical care.

The Siders kids, ages 1½ to 18, are in state custody.

Stolly beforehand requested for a competency analysis for Elizabeth, which was granted final month. The outcomes are pending.