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A lawyer for the grandmother in the Vinton County child endangerment case requests a gag order

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – The lawyer for the Vinton County grandmother charged with 16 counts of child endangerment has filed for a gag order in her case.

Christina Siders, her husband, and her son and daughter-in-law were arrested two weeks ago after authorities discovered the children in a home in the village of Hamden. The four each face 16 counts of child endangerment.

This request for a non-dissemination order comes just two days after a gag order was issued in the case involving her son. 

That gag order restricts comments that can be made by the Ohio attorney general’s office and the Vinton County prosecutor, sheriff and clerk of courts. The order also restricts comments that can be made by the defense attorney for Siders Jr. 

Vinton County Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers looking over papers at the arraignment of Gary Siders Junior and Senior
Vinton County Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers looking over papers at the arraignment of Gary Siders Junior and Senior. [Thomas Billington | WOUB]
The Siders Jr. gag order did not extend to the other cases, but due to the materials of the case being the same, it would effectively gag the prosecution from speaking about any of the cases. 

Comments made by the Ohio attorney general, Andy Wilson, were at the center of the order issued in the Siders Jr. case. Wilson called the alleged crimes “pure evil” and referred to the children as “almost feral animals.”

Vinton County Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers has not yet ruled on the request for a non-dissemination order.

This is a developing story and WOUB will update this story when a ruling comes out on this order.