McARTHUR, Ohio — A Vinton County judge ruled Monday that Christina Siders is incompetent to stand trial on 19 child-endangering counts, halting her criminal case and ordering her sent to an inpatient facility for further treatment and evaluation.
Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers of the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas made the finding at a hearing Monday, November 9, in the case that began June 30, when sheriff’s deputies and state agents executing a search warrant at a Hamden home found 16 children living in a single room in conditions authorities described as deplorable. Siders, 68, the children’s paternal grandmother, was one of four adults arrested at the home.
The ruling does not dismiss the charges against her. Under Ohio law, a defendant found incompetent to stand trial cannot be tried while that incompetency lasts, and the court orders treatment aimed at restoring competency. Siders’ indictment remains pending while she is treated, and her case, State of Ohio v. Christina Siders, Case No. 26CR0051, stays open.
That sets her path apart from her husband’s. Gary Siders Sr. was found incompetent to stand trial on September 9, and on October 6 the court dismissed his 16 counts without prejudice — meaning they could be refiled — after finding no substantial probability that treatment would restore him, retaining jurisdiction so a civil commitment action could be pursued in probate court. No such dismissal was entered for Christina Siders on Monday; instead, the court ordered more treatment.
At the same courthouse Monday, the children’s mother, Elizabeth Siders, was deemed competent to stand trial. She and the children’s father, Gary Siders Jr., each face the same 19 endangering counts, along with separate sexual-offense charges in a related case. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.
How the case reached this point
According to Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer, investigators went to the home on the 100 block of Ohmer Street in Hamden on June 30 to execute a search warrant and collect a DNA sample from Gary Siders Jr. Inside, the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) found the 16 children, who ranged in age from about 20 months to 18 years. The children were removed and later placed in foster care.
A Vinton County grand jury indicted Christina Siders on August 21 on 19 counts of endangering children under Ohio Revised Code 2919.22: two second-degree felony counts, ten third-degree felony counts and seven first-degree misdemeanor counts, with some counts charged in the alternative. The Ohio Attorney General’s office said the investigations were conducted by the sheriff’s office and BCI, and that the cases are being prosecuted by Archer’s office with assistance from the Highland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Section.
“These indictments are the latest developments in the ongoing investigations, but our work is far from complete,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said in announcing the indictments. “BCI is actively investigating these cases alongside the Vinton County Sheriff’s Office, and my office will continue to support Prosecuting Attorney William Archer as the legal process continues.”
Siders was arraigned September 25 and pleaded not guilty to all 19 counts. She has been held on a $300,000 bond.
The competency question
Siders’ mental state has been before the court for months. She sat for a court-ordered competency evaluation on September 5, and the written report returned September 29. In a defense filing describing that report, the evaluator found that Siders “has several risk factors for cerebrovascular dementia, and that a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is required to determine whether her cognitive impairment is the result of symptoms of dementia.” Her attorney asked the court to fund a specialist neuropsychological evaluation, and the doctor who evaluated her competency reported signs of dementia.
Monday’s hearing resolved the competency question in the court’s finding that she is incompetent to stand trial, with inpatient treatment and further evaluation to follow. What treatment can or cannot change about her condition will determine whether her prosecution can ever resume: if she is restored to competency, the case can proceed; if she is not, the court will face the same dismissal and civil-commitment questions it decided in her husband’s case.
The charges against Siders are allegations. She is presumed innocent, and no finding has been made on the underlying accusations against any of the defendants.
WATCH: JNN’s narrated report on the ruling.
