Christina Siders, grandmother of the 16 Siders children found living in squalid conditions in her Vinton County home this summer, is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon.
She is scheduled to appear at a bond hearing Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m.
Assistant Ohio Public Defender Kandra Roberts, Christina Siders' attorney, requested her client's $300,000 bond set in July be lowered or reduced to a recognizance bond so Christina can deal with health issues. Roberts previously said in a court filing that Christina Siders was the family's main caregiver and provider, and she prioritized caring for her husband's health needs in spite of her own.
The Vinton County Prosecutor's office opposes the request, arguing that Christina Siders is awaiting the results
of a competency test, and she is facing multiple felony charges and thus a flight risk and potential harm to victims in the case.
The 67-year-old grandmother currently faces two second-degree felony counts and 10 third-degree felony counts of endangering children, along with seven first-degree misdemeanor counts.
In a memo filed Sept. 18, Roberts said the prosecution "has not presented a single valid argument" as to why Siders' bond should not be reduced.
"Christina poses no threat to the public. She is not a flight risk. She has no criminal history," Roberts said.
Roberts said Christina Siders doesn't pose any public safety risk because there is no evidence that she has threatened anyone and "has indicated only concern for her grandchildren to law enforcement."
"Previously, Mrs. Siders was only around her grandchildren because her son and his wife decided to reside with Christina and her husband," Roberts wrote. "In release, Mrs. Siders will not return to her previous place of residence. In fact, she has absolutely no access to any alleged victims now in the care and custody of Children Services or of their undisclosed, confidential locations."
How did the Vinton County case unfold?
On June 30, authorities with a search warrant went to the Siders family's rented home on the 100 block of Ohmer Street in Hamden, about 80 miles southeast of Columbus, to collect DNA from Christina Siders' son, Gary Jr. It was during the execution of that search warrant that authorities discovered the 16 children in a rear room of the house, Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer previously said.
After the Vinton County Sheriff's Office and Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation removed the children from the home, authorities arrested four adults: Gary Siders Sr., Gary Siders Jr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders.
Those four initially faced child endangerment charges, but the scope of charges expanded in August when Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders were indicted on additional sex crime charges. Two other relatives, Brandon Henderson Sr. and Joshua Saunders III, were also charged in related cases.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Christina Siders, grandmother of 16 Ohio kids, to appear in Vinton County court
