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A Vinton County judge issues a another gag order. This time in the case against the grandmother charged with child endangerment

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – A Vinton County judge has issued an order banning parties from talking about the child endangerment case against Christina Siders.

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]
Siders is one of the four facing multiple felony charges after prosecutors alleged they kept her 16 grandchildren in “horrific” conditions. 

The order came after a request from her lawyer for a non-dissemination, or gag, order, citing the pretrial publicity as potentially tainting the jury pool. 

The request came just two days after a gag order was issued in the case involving her son, Gary Siders Jr.

The order from Vinton County Judge Laina Rogers issued Thursday restricts comments from the defendants, “any representatives of the State of Ohio” and prosecutors. The order extends to investigators, attorneys, experts or support staff from all parties. 

Also restricted are court staff, including all “judicial officers, clerks and employees of the Court.”

The order restricts the parties from discussing the “merits, facts, evidence, materials in discovery.” 

It does not ban the parties from discussing information already in the public record. 

This order is much longer and more defined than the order that was issued in Siders Jr.’s case, which is being challenged in the Ohio Supreme Court.