The mother at the center of a Vinton County child abuse investigation has been found competent to stand trial, while the children’s grandmother was ruled not competent to face the charges against her, the Columbus Dispatch reported, citing its news partner NBC4 (WCMH-TV).
A judge found Elizabeth Siders, 34, competent on Nov. 9, according to NBC4 as reported by the Columbus Dispatch. Siders is the mother of 16 children discovered living in deplorable conditions in a home in the village of Hamden, in Vinton County, after law enforcement executed a search warrant there in June.
Christina Siders, 67, the children’s grandmother, was found not competent to stand trial, according to NBC4. Elizabeth and Christina Siders, along with Elizabeth’s husband, 36-year-old Gary Siders Jr., face an array of charges in connection with the discovery of the children, the Dispatch reported. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Elizabeth Siders faces 19 counts of child endangerment, two counts of sexual battery and two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, the Dispatch reported. She has pleaded not guilty and remains in the Vinton County jail.
The competency split is the second in the family. Gary Siders Sr., 73, the father of Gary Siders Jr., was also charged in the case, but those charges were dismissed after he was found not mentally competent to stand trial, the Dispatch reported. Two other men charged in connection with the investigation — Brandon Henderson, 40, and Joshua Saunders III, 23 — face sex crimes charges in the case.
The case drew statewide attention when the children were found in June, and the September competency proceedings drew further scrutiny: after a hearing that month, Elizabeth Siders’ attorney declined to say whether she was pregnant, the Dispatch reported. She married Gary Siders Jr. when she was 15 and has had 18 children since, two of whom — a pair of conjoined twins — died shortly after birth, according to the Dispatch.
What happens next: with the competency ruling in place, Elizabeth Siders’ case can proceed toward trial in Vinton County on the 23 counts she faces, while Christina Siders’ charges cannot move forward while she is ruled incompetent. No trial date was reported in the Nov. 9 rulings.