Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Ohio 'House of Horrors': Grandpa Siders Set Free!

Episode Date: August 4, 2026

Gary Siders, Sr., 73, is free on a signature bond after receiving treatment for a serious medical condition at an Ohio hospital. The patriarch of the Siders family has pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of child endangering related to the alleged abuse of his 16 grandchildren. His wife, son and daughter-in-law have also pleaded not guilty. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at the issue of Siders being released when his mental competency has been questioned in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Taking care of your health just got easier – start here with Zocdoc: https://zocdoc.com/CRIMEFIX #sponsoredHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guests: Dr. Daniel Bober https://www.instagram.com/drdanielbober/Judge Robert Ruehlman https://www.instagram.com/divejudge/CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Van DinhGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Very seldom would I ever allow somebody out on bond who I felt was incompetent. It's just, it's too difficult, actually, to do a competency when they're out. The grandfather of 16 children rescued from a so-called House of Horrors in Ohio is out of jail. Weeks after, his lawyer raised issues about whether his client could understand the charges he faces. Plus, there's news about Elizabeth Siders, the mother of the children and her lawyer's next move. We're looking at all of it. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix. Gary Sider Sr. is 73 years old.

He's a grandfather to more than 16 children, and he's accused of serious felonies related to 16 of those grandchildren who were pulled from his home in Vinton County, Ohio, back on June 30th. Gary Sider, Sr. has pleaded not guilty to the charges, so has his wife, Christina Siders, and his son, Gary Siders, Jr., and his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Siders. Of course, Elizabeth Seiders is the mother of the 16 children and Gary Jr. is the father. Right now, we don't know what the prosecution is saying Gary Seider's senior's role in, quote, hiding the children was. We just don't know. The county prosecutor and the state's attorney general have said several times that the family was hiding the children. Maybe we'll learn more about that at a later date. On Monday, August 4th, Gary Seider's senior signed a signature bond, and you can see from his handwriting, the signature isn't the

best. But it's there. Maybe that is because of his medical condition, or maybe he just has poor penmanship. We don't know. But Gary Sider, Sr., it would appear, has been released from the hospital, and he has to follow a number of conditions, such as showing up for all of his court appearances, and he has to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet at the expense of the state. Gary Sider Sr.'s lawyer, Dorian Bown, was here on crime fix last month and discussed his concerns about his client's mental state and mental capacity? I mean, he obviously understood a person greeting him, but again, as I noted in my motion, he definitely had some confusion about the process, about what was going on.

He had an inability to discuss with any sort of sophistication, the legal process, whatever one's roles were, which again, as I've said here and elsewhere, competency is a bedrock. It's a bedrock precondition to be able to move forward to any criminal case. And if you don't have that, you just simply can't. You know, I'm going to circle back around to what you already asked also. You know, is he a dangerous community? I would have suggested that he's never been a dangerous community. And certainly in his present condition, he isn't. He is not dangerous. What I would consider him to be as a sad and sympathetic character, primarily because of his general level of confusion and both the mental health and physical issues that I was sort of seeing.

And when you ask what I was sort of observing, it was very similar to what we've all seen during the preliminary hearing and his behaviors and mannerisms there, where there was just a general lack of confusion, inability to hear very well, certainly mobility issues, and an inability to sort of in any way discuss with sophistication what was going on around him. I asked forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober about the decision to release Gary Sr. on a signature bond when questions about his competency remain. Well, it must be a pretty serious illness if they feel like he's not a threat to the community, right? What's going on over there? Was he suffering from dementia?

Did he have a stroke? Is it terminal cancer? Is it, you know, end-state? heart disease, it would have to be something pretty serious if they feel like given everything that's happened and given the fact that he was sort of presiding over this, if you will, that he is not a threat. So that's what that tells me. They're raising the issue of competency though. So that, so his attorney is saying basically, I have concerns that Gary Sr. you know, really can't assist me with his defense and isn't understanding the proceedings. And we all kind of saw it for ourselves during

that first court appearance. What are your thoughts? What? Are you. when looking at that piece of this puzzle, because I'm like, well, you're saying he may not be competent and may not have the ability to understand the proceedings. He may have some type of mental disease or defect. You're having him evaluated for potential insanity defense, yet we're releasing him. Yeah, he's not a threat, but also he may not be competent. Your thoughts on that part of it. It could be some neurological condition where he's unable to make decisions or He lacks capacity. And maybe they feel that in the care of a family member, that he would not be a threat.

And if they don't think he's a threat, that makes me feel like there's something really serious going on that the state felt like he could be released. I don't know about you, but sometimes I actually put off making a doctor's appointment. I know. It's really bad. Maybe it's phone anxiety. Maybe it's trying to find the time during a busy work day to make that call or the fear of being booked. some months out or being stuck on hold. That's why our sponsor Zoc Doc is such a game changer. Zoc Doc is a free app and website that lets you search and compare local in-network doctors.

And what really helps me is being able to see actual appointment openings and just clicking to book instantly. It takes all of the stress out of it for me and makes it way less likely that I'll keep procrastinating. Most appointments are within 24 to 72 hours and sometimes you can even find same-day options. Your health matters more than anything else. Taking care of yourself should not be complicated. Find and book the right doctor with Zocdoc. Head to Zocdo.com slash crime fix to get started and check that appointment off your to-do list. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash crime fix. We still have no idea what serious medical condition Gary Sr. suffers from, but the county prosecutor has said previously that he's not concerned about Gary Sr. being,

a threat. First, let me stress, the community is not at risk because of this bond. That Mr. Sider Sr. has a serious medical condition that requires specialized care in a hospital outside of this area. The county was going to be on the hook for his medical care. And again, based on the information that we were provided, his medical care could potentially bankrupt the Vinton County. Lawyers for all four Siders family members are raising the issue about whether their clients are competent to stand trial. Yes, now all four of them. Just today, Elizabeth Sider's attorney filed a motion asking for a competency exam and an evaluation to see whether she could qualify as not guilty by reason of insanity. Tommy Stolly wrote, as of the filing of this motion, the defendant has not been indicted and therefore counsel does not have all of the facts, evidence, or substance.

circumstances of this case or the defendant's subsequent arrest. However, in the interim, counsel has met with the defendant on numerous occasions and for extended periods. During these interactions, counsel has been able to observe the defendant's demeanor, conduct, and comprehension. These interactions lead counsel to believe that the defendant may be suffering from significant mental health issues and that competency may be an issue and a clear impediment to the defendant's ability to assist in her own defense. So to dig into the very latest on this case, I want to bring in retired Judge Robert Rulman. He was on the bench in Hamilton County, Ohio.

That's Cincinnati. And he was on the bench for many, many years. So Judge Rulman, thank you so much for coming on. Yeah, thanks. Thanks. Yeah, I was elected judge for 36 years. Got six terms. I was liked it every time.

I'm the longest serving common police court judge, general division, and the history, Hamilton County. And then three more years as a retired jury. So you've been around the block. You've done a number of cases presided over a number of cases. What are your thoughts, first of all, on this case? I know you've also presided over cases out in the Vinton and Jackson County areas. So what are your thoughts?

You hear about 16 children. The prosecutor says they were hidden from the world, found in a house where the authorities say it's full of squalor. feces, the whole nine yards. And this family is all living together. What do you make of that as a retired judge? I've had cases like that in Hamilton County also. And when I was years ago, when I was actually an arson investigator years ago, in a prior life,

I'm in the arson task force. I would go into houses during fire investigations and get fleas all over me and everything. People living in a squalor. And I had a case where a mother actually let her kid. She was a prostitute, let her kids in the house while she was out prostituting. And they started a fire and they were overcome. They were actually revived. And then this liberal magistrate and juvenile court gave them back, gave the kids back to her.

And a couple months later, I responded. And we actually had to scrape these kids off the floor. They were melt, literally melted. And yeah, they were killed. Yeah, it was horrible. I saw a lot. I've seen a lot of bad parenting, you know. I myself has seven kids, 15 grandkids, two great grandkids. I love kids. So I don't like this. This bothers me. Let's talk a little bit about Gary Sider, senior, being released on this bond, signature bond. We knew this was going to happen. He was being treated in the hospital for a serious medical issue. So he's signed a 300,000. dollar signature bond. Talk to us about breakdown what that means. I've never, I've never done one of those. I've never done a signature bond where he if he doesn't show up, he owes 300,000. Where are they going to get the 300,000? He doesn't, does he have 300,000? But I've never, I've never actually had one of those. But basically it's, if he doesn't show up, he owes 300,000. And of course,

they can arrest him, put him in jail with no bond at that point. But, uh, um, um, he's, um, he doesn't show up. He owes 300, he was Yeah, essentially he's facing a life term here because he's 73. Now, I'm older than him, but he looks older to me. I think he's had a rough life. But still, the point is he's out now. Who knows? He's, there's, that's a wilderness there, in Jackson County, Pike County.

He can just take off. He had nothing to lose because he's got, he's, he faces so much time at 73 it would be a life term so the county said they released him because it would have bankrupt the county potentially his medical expenses i mean this is a poor county with an eight million dollar a year operating budget um so they they don't feel he's a threat to the public that's true well of course that's true yeah that's a that's a point that's a good point That's a good point in the judge's consideration. That's true because it's a very poor county. You're right because I worked in Jackson County. It's poor. I know Vinton, the one defendant that I had

in the person that was litigating in Jackson County was from Vinton County. But Vinton, my judge friend, who I went to, he was actually raised in Chiviot with me, the little town outside of Cincinnati, Judge Katanzero, he moved to Pike County and he would do. He would do that. tell me the problems at Pike County. And he was a judge in Pike County. He would tell me about the problems in Pike County. They were, they don't have a lot of money. It's true. That's true. That's a, that's a point. Yeah. Gary Sider Sr., the grandpa, he is now out on this signature bond. So basically, he has signed a document. The writing on this is very poor. He signed the document saying, yeah, if I take off, I'm on the hook for 300 grand that he doesn't have. We all know that. They, they don't

Obviously, it's silly, you know. I've never done a bond like that, you know. They obviously don't think he is going to run because he's in such poor health. He's on a GPS monitoring bracelet. They don't believe he's a threat to the public, but he has, you know, a competency issue that's been raised. So how do you, how do you square that having somebody out on bail when you're saying you don't think that they are potentially competent to. to stand trial. So how do you balance that concern? Well, that's another with you. I would never, I never, I never would allow, very, very seldom would I ever allow somebody out on bond who I felt

was incompetent. It's just, it's too difficult actually to do a competency when they're out. There was a couple cases where they were people that had some real bad mental problems and didn't commit a very serious offense, maybe a drug, a felony drug abuse or something like that. And They were, they obviously had mental problems and they were not a threat to anybody and there were low level felonies. I would let them out. Usually it was they would end up going to a halfway house or something like that. But in a situation like this, these serious charges, he's claiming he's incompetent. A lot of these, a lot of defendants fake it.

They try to fake it. A good examiner will have them watched and we'll review video of them when they're not there and pretty much clear up the faking. Because a lot of times when they do the interview, they'll fake, you know, but they record them in jail and how they interact with other people. And then suddenly the psychologist or psychiatrist shows up and they act goofy, you know. Well, they are obviously faking. But the only way you can do that is to,

I would have least kept him in for the competency evaluation because then you can monitor whether they were faking or not because they have videos in jail going all the time. Yeah, and I think that's a good point because Elizabeth Sider's brother has posted on Facebook that he thinks the other ones are are faking it. He thinks that they're all faking, yeah. Yeah. So he thinks they're faking being goofy, as he put it. So what do you make of that? How common is that that somebody would raise a competency? It happens a lot. It happens a lot. And the issue with cameras, cameras have helped a lot. You know, we have cameras everywhere now. We didn't have cameras years ago. I remember I was on a robbery, federal robbery task force. And that was before cameras. And we had to go on. eyewitnesses and forensic evidence and it was it's tough but now there's cameras in every bank you don't have many bank robberies anymore there's cameras all over you know um somebody commits a crime

but somebody broke into a jewelry store yesterday yesterday they they have those cameras every house they followed the car with using the cameras and found that where they were and arrested them so you know every so the cameras in the jail will constantly be used to monitor them so they'll fake in front of the Then they let the cameras run and the psychologist then reviews them when they eat food, when they interact with other inmates, when they interact with other correctional officers. And clearly it will show that they're fine. They just act goofy when the psychologist shows up. So it's very important to keep them at least during the cops and he should be held until

they determine competency. Again, then again, I don't know about the finances. I never thought, I never really pondered that. I come from a big county had a lot of money. But, you know, it's true. Vinton and Pike and Jackson County, they don't have a lot of money. You know, Brown County, and they have Trow Adams County, the smaller counties, they don't have a lot of money, you know.

So they don't think that he's going anywhere. They think he's not going to run. They've got him on GPS. He's either staying with family or staying in a medical facility. We're not 100% sure, but he's not in the hospital anymore. We know that. Now we have Elizabeth. Finally, you know, everybody else was raising this competency issue. And now just today, her attorney has raised the competency issue. So we have four defendants. Yeah, we have four defendants in one family saying, their lawyers are saying we have concerns about their competency, about their ability to help in their defense and understand these proceedings. Do you feel like, you know, she's the youngest of all of that. Well, in cases like this where it's pretty much, it seems like it's.

pretty open and shut, you know. I mean, it's a pretty serious case. They're all caught right there with these kids and not taking care of them. There's not much of a defense. So, hey, let's try, let's try NGR. Let's try competency. And then let's hopefully be found incompetent and they can't be prosecuted or maybe they would be, if they determine they're competent, then the next issue is they do not guilty by reason of insanity. It's a common tactic. I mean, defense, they're just doing their job, you know, they don't have a lot to go on. So if, we'll go we'll go we'll go incompetent or if that doesn't work then we'll go ngri you know um these people aren't that it's obviously not the brightest bunch in the world i'll tell you these

i mean they had all these kids they can't take care of them they let them in squawler is it surprising to you that they're raising these issues before an indictment has even been handed down no where they have to go and they have nothing else to go i figured we'll go for this we'll go for the mental you know because the facts factually, it's a pretty strong case. What's your defense? You know, they catch you with all these kids in there and not being taken care of. Let's go for, and who in their right mind, I guess the theory also is who in their right mind would allow this to happen? There has to be something wrong. So we'll go for competency and then we'll go for NGRI. That's a common tactic. Defense

attorneys use. You can't really blame them. They've got nothing else to go on, you know? But NGRI means you basically didn't know the difference between right and wrong. And the prosecutor said they were hiding these kids. So that suggests that you did know what you were doing was wrong. If you're quote unquote hiding the kids, they were once enrolled in school. And then they didn't go. Exactly. Well, that's a good point.

Exactly. Because they were evidently hiding them. And the whole thing was that they were supposedly homeschooling these kids. Is that right? We don't know. That's been suggested on social media. But we don't know that that was actually happening. They certainly weren't registered for homeschooling.

homeschooling. No. But they had a thing in there. They said they went to their school record. They said homeschool. So they must have told them they were going to homeschool them, but they didn't monitor them at all, you know. Right.

But that's what they, that was an excuse. But you wonder what they weren't in school? Why weren't they being monitored? Well, you know, where's the, where's the Truant officer, you know? But they evidently said they were homeschooling. But then they didn't monitor that either. It's just a mess. This county is something else, I'll tell you.

For this to happen, it's a lot of things going through the cracks here, you know, you wonder about the infrastructure of this whole county, you know. Yeah, it's certainly interesting. I mean, they moved from Gallia County up to Venton. So there's a lot that was going on with this. So how do you think that the competency evaluations, do you think that slows this case down at all? Not really.

I mean, it's, it happens a lot. They try to do them within 30 to 60 days. And then they have a hearing. And usually they stipulate. If the person that was found competent, they stipulate to it. It found incompetent. And a lot of times the state will ask for another examiner, you know. Sometimes the examiners they have worked for the quarter, it's a little naive. And they'll bring an independent examiner in. I would, I would, depend there's a couple really sharp examiners who catch these people that fake and i would always depend on them i'd bring them in on cases uh and they would they would catch them through the cameras and stuff because again when the psychologist shows up or the psychiatrist shows up they act goofy you know

during the interview but um but they get cameras and they see them how they interact when they eat food or with other correction officers and stuff and yeah and jail calls not and jail. Jail calls. These people are so, these criminals don't realize how they're constantly being monitored by the police and the prosecutor's office. We have full confessions on jail calls sometimes. They try to make up alibis. It's just amazing what comes through with jail calls. It's unbelievable. And then through the jail calls, they can tell, well, gosh, this person's obviously competent. And a lot of times they'll say that, yeah, hey, I'm faking, you know, I'm faking. I'm making goofy, you know, that happens a lot. Yeah, it's, it's interesting. Yeah, it's interesting. It's a good point,

bring up, yeah. Yeah. Well, we will keep an eye on it. Judge Robert Rulman, thank you so much for coming on and offering your time and your expertise. We appreciate it. All right, thanks. Thanks, Angel. So right now, three of the Ciders family members remain in the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail on a $300,000 bond. Only Gary Cider, Senior, is out on that signature bond. And remember, we have a great app where you can review all of the documents and our episodes about this case. It is Law and Crime Plus. Check it out. Go to the case file section.

You won't regret it. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Janette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.