News
Grandfather in the Vinton County child endangerment case ruled incompetent to stand trial
By: WOUB News Team
Posted on:
MCARTHUR, Ohio (WOUB) — The grandfather of 16 children removed from squalid conditions in a Vinton County home has been ruled incompetent to stand trial.
Vinton County Judge Liana Featherolf Rogers went over the evaluations that determined Siders Sr. was not competent to stand trial and “not restorable.”
Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer did not object to the ruling.
This could be the end of the case for Siders Sr., or the prosecutor could move for a civil commitment where he would receive mandatory mental health treatment.
His attorney, Dorian Baum, said he doesn’t think a civil commitment would be of much value given Siders Sr.’s condition and believes the case will be dismissed within the coming “days or weeks.”
Siders Sr.’s wife, Christina Siders, along with his son and daughter-in-law, Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders, still each face multiple counts of child endangerment in connection with the 16 children found in the home.
All four were arrested on the last day of June, when authorities discovered the children crowded inside a filthy room in a rental home in Hamden. Authorities found the children while at the house to collect a DNA sample from Siders Jr. in an unrelated case.
All four defendants, at their request, requested that they be evaluated to determine whether they are competent to stand trial.
Competency hearings for the other three defendants have not been scheduled.
This is a developing story and more information will be added as it comes in.