SH0CKING NEW TWIST IN OHIO ‘HOUSE OF H0RRORS’ CASE: COURT RECORDS REVEAL MOTHER FACED CHILD-RELATED CHARGES YEARS BEFORE 16 CHILDREN WERE REMOVED

The mother of the 16 children who were contained to one room in an Ohio “House of Horrors” had previously been charged for incidents involving six of her children.

Elizabeth Siders, 33, and her husband Gary Siders II were charged in the Juvenile Court Division of the Gallia County Court of Common Pleas with truancy-related offenses in 2021.

Those charges were filed on October 19, 2021 after six of their children had failed to attend a single day of school at Addaville Elementary, according to copies of juvenile court records obtained by PEOPLE.

Addaville Elementary is a pre-Kindergarten through Fifth Grade school in Gallipolis, a village approximately 150 miles east of Cincinnati.

The records state that the parents had been notified by officials from the Gallia County Local School District about their children’s absences but declined to take action.

On Oct. 26, 2021, the Gallia County Sheriff was granted the authority to serve the couple with a court summons and a copy of the six complaints. An arraignment was set for Nov. 15 at that time, but the deputies sent to serve the couple reported that the couple’s house was vacant.

On Jan. 7, 2022, the cases were terminated due to the unavailability of the defendants.

Elizabeth and Gary remain in custody following their recent arrest on June 30, 2026.

They are each charged with 16 counts of child neglect after the children were found in deplorable conditions, with Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson saying they looked “like almost feral animals,” PEOPLE previously reported.

The parents are being held on a $300,000 bond.

According to court records obtained by PEOPLE, Elizabeth is attempting to have her bond lowered in hopes of reuniting with her 16 children.

Vinton County officials have said they lack proper funding to care for all 16 children, some of whom needed immediate medical treatment.

Wilson said earlier this month that all 16 children were largely confined to a 12-by-12-foot room inside the home, adding that an unrelated “parallel investigation” led law enforcement to the property.

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SOURCE: https://people.com/ohio-house-of-horrors-mom-previously-charged-for-incident-involving-6-children-12020890