First responder recalls rescue of 16 children in Vinton County abuse case

Investigators say the children were kept in a 12-by-12-foot room for nearly four years, and the conditions inside the home were described as worse than what livestock live in.

An acting fire public information officer who responded to the scene said he drove four of the children to the hospital, adding that they were frightened and quiet during the 20-minute drive.

“Cockroaches and stuff like that,” he said. “Bugs just in general and the conditions, you know, bugs get on the children and stuff and they scratch, and they bite and all that stuff. So, their condition wasn’t the greatest. It was just quiet. Blank expressions.”

Investigators said some of the children cannot communicate at all, and others have limited speech. None of the children was enrolled in school, and investigators said the eldest child could not spell her own name. The sheriff said one of the children remains in critical condition at a hospital.

Neighbors even told ABC 6 they had no idea any children lived in the small house.

Investigators said they first came to the property to execute a search warrant connected to a separate criminal investigation that began four to six weeks before the children were discovered Tuesday.

Based on evidence developed so far, investigators said they believe the case involves prolonged and extreme interfamilial neglect and abuse.

The four suspects — Gary Siders Sr., Gary Siders Jr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders — all pleaded not guilty Wednesday and each was ordered to be held on $300,000 bond. The attorney for Siders Sr., Dorian Keith Baum, shared the following statement with ABC 6 on Thursday afternoon:

While this case has quite obviously received intense media attention and the accompanying speculation across the internet that comes with any story of that nature, the reality is that we are just at the beginning stages of this case. There has not even been an Indictment filed against Mr. Siders yet, merely a Complaint, and then a day later an Amended Complaint containing one fewer Count than the Complaint the previous day, which speaks to the extremely preliminary stage we are at.

It has not escaped our notice that the State apparatus – from multiple State and local political figures, to the interim State Attorney General, to the very prosecutor who is going to be presenting this case – have taken every opportunity to attempt to pre-try this case in the Court of public opinion.

However, it is also important to remember that Mr. Siders is enтιтled to the same presumption of innocence that every person charged in this county should and does enjoy, so while there is little ability to stop all speculation, conjecture, or uncorroborated guess-work from taking place, I would ask that we all let the process play out, irrespective of the sensationalist underpinnings of the allegations against Mr. Siders, so that we as his defense counsel can be provided with whatever evidence the State allegedly has in order to give it a thorough review and determine if the State can meet their burden of proof; or, alternatively, if Mr. Siders is actually not guilty of what is being alleged.