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One of the four individuals arrested when officials rescued 16 children from an Ohio “House of Horrors” is not competent to stand trial.
Gary Siders, the 73-year-old family patriarch and grandfather to the children found in the residence, was deemed mentally unfit by Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers in an Oct. 6 court order obtained by PEOPLE.
As a result of this determination, all criminal charges have now been dismissed against Gary.
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The evaluation of Gary was performed by Dr. Daniel D. Hrinko, Psy.D., who “did not state a conclusion as to restorability, but opined that based on the nature of Mr. Siders’ condition, a finding of unrestorability could be supported,” Fetherolf wrote in her order.
For this reason, Fetherolf said that the criminal case against Gary would be dismissed without prejudice.
The order also notes that the court is not ceding jurisdiction over Gary’s case until it is taken up by the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division.
That court will now be tasked with Gary’s civil commitment to an appropriate facility to treat his mental illness.
Gary is the one family member who is not currently in custody after Fetherolf agreed to release him following the elimination of his bail.
His release came after the court determined his unspecified medical problems and the weekly hospital visits he requires as a matter of survival did not make him a flight risk.
The decision was also made in part because the impoverished county would have been forced to pay for Gary Sr.’s treatments had he remained in custody, the judge said.
It is unclear when civil commitment proceedings may begin for Gary, and Fetherolf noted in her order that all relevant records from his evaluation would be transferred to that court.
He was arrested along with his wife Christina, son Gary Siders II and daughter-in-law Elizabeth Siders on June 30 after deputies from the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office traveled to the residence to serve a summons in an unrelated case.
Those deputies alerted officials to the condition of the home and the large number of children who appeared to be confined to a single room after that visit. Within hours, an operation was carried out to rescue the 16 children between the ages of 18 months and 18 years.
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At a press conference one day after the raid, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said: “I think if they would have waited another 24 hours, there was a very high probability that we’d be dealing with a death or multiple deaths of these children.”
It was also noted that the children behaved “almost like feral animals” and that seven had been sent to hospitals to receive medical treatment.
Wilson said the children were “covered in bugs and squatting and had that like distant look in their eyes.” What’s more, determining the extent of the alleged neglect is challenging because of the children’s “extremely limited” ability to communicate.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said authorities were struggling to communicate with the children after that rescue, and as a result there was still “a lack of information” about their situation at that time.
“They can communicate, but it’s extremely limited, and some, not at all,” Cain said.
Those children are now in the care of the county while Christina, Gary II and Elizabeth remain in jail with their bail having been set at $300,000.
All three have entered not guilty pleas to all charges.