CSA in the USA > Worst Family of the Year indicted in Ohio - 16 children rescued

 

Siders family indicted, Gary Jr. & Elizabeth indicted in separate child sex abuse case

by: Jessica Patterson, Delaney Wells

Posted: Aug 21, 2026 / 04:10 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 21, 2026 / 11:17 PM EDT

VINTON COUNTY, Ohio (WOWK) – As child endangering indictments were handed down against the Siders family, two defendants, Gary Siders, Jr., and Elizabeth Siders, were also indicted in a separate child sexual abuse case.

According to the Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson’s Office, Gary Siders, Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, were both indicted on four charges each stemming from an investigation opened in March 2026 by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation regarding unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

The Attorney General says the victim in the case “is not a member of their immediate family.”

Two men indicted, arrested in child sex abuse case that launched Siders investigation

Wilson says the indictments allege that Gary Jr. and Elizabeth Siders “engaged in sexual conduct with a minor more than 10 years younger than their own age” between January 2022 and September 2022.

According to Wilson, the charges Gary Jr. and Elizabeth face in this investigation are:

• Two counts each of sexual battery, a third-degree felony
• Two counts each of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony

Gary Jr. and Elizabeth, along with Gary Jr.’s parents, Gary Siders, Sr., 73, and Christina Siders, 68, were all arrested June 30 on child endangering charges when 16 children were removed from their home, some of whom were in “serious medical condition.” (see article immediately below).

Authorities said investigators had been at the home to serve an unrelated warrant. While they never officially announced the contents of that warrant, another warrant had been issued that day for Gary Jr. on public indecency charges. However, Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain clarified in a video statement that the warrant they were serving was related to these charges.

“There have been a lot of speculation and questions regarding the June 30th presence on Ohmer Street in Hamden. These indictments provide some insight into the ongoing investigation; however, to preserve the integrity of the ongoing investigation and to protect the victims, I conclude my statement here,” said Cain.

Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer further clarified that the search warrant was issued for the purpose of securing Gary Jr.’s DNA for the child sex abuse case. Just as when the child endangering charges were first announced, Archer said this investigation is also not a case of human trafficking and that there is no danger to the general public.

According to Wilson and Cain, the investigation launched in March into Gary Jr. and Elizabeth stemmed from a different child sexual abuse case in Vinton County. That investigation began in December 2025 and involved sexual abuse allegations involving two children.

In that case, two South Bloomingville men, identified by Wilson as Joshua Saunders, 23, and Brandon Henderson, Sr., 40, were indicted and arrested Friday, Aug. 21. Saunders faces four charges, including rape and gross sexual imposition, and Henderson faces 21 counts, including multiple charges of child endangering, gross sexual imposition and sexual battery.

Along with this announcement, Wilson announced that Gary Jr., Elizabeth, Gary Sr., and Christina were all indicted on numerous charges related to the endangerment of 16 children within their home.

The charges in the separate child endangering investigation are:

• Gary Siders, Jr. – 19 charges total
  • Two second-degree felony counts of endangering children
  • Ten third-degree felony counts of endangering children
  • Seven misdemeanor counts of endangering children
• Elizabeth Siders – 19 charges total
  • Two second-degree felony counts of endangering children
  • Ten third-degree felony counts of endangering children
  • Seven misdemeanor counts of endangering children
• Gary Siders Sr. – 16 charges total
  • Ten third-degree felony counts of child endangering
  • Six misdemeanor counts of child endangering
• Christina Siders – 19 charges total
  • Two second-degree felony counts of child endangering
  • Ten third-degree felony counts of child endangering
  • Seven misdemeanor counts of child endangering

“The indictments in this case include charges in the alternative, meaning that multiple counts or different theories of a crime have been charged for the same acts. Doing so allows for a more complete and appropriate presentation of evidence to the court and jury,” Wilson explained.

All of the Siders were arraigned on July 1 and pleaded not guilty to an original 16 counts each of child endangering. They then waived their preliminary hearings the following week.

Records detail Siders children, adults’ time spent in public schools

The Siders’ bonds were set to $300,000 each. Gary Sr., however, was granted a motion to have his bond reduced to recognizance only. Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer said at the time that this was because if he remained in custody, Vinton County would be responsible for his medical bills, which the county could not afford. He was released from custody earlier this month.

Motions requesting competency evaluations for all four Siders defendants have also been granted by a Vinton County judge. These evaluations will determine if they are able to stand trial.

========================

16 children removed from Vinton County home, 4 adults charged

by: Jessica Patterson

Posted: Jun 30, 2026 / 06:18 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 9, 2026 / 02:04 PM EDT

VINTON COUNTY, Ohio (WOWK) – Four people have been arrested after 16 children in serious medical conditions were removed from a home in Vinton County.

Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson, Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain, Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer and representatives from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation announced the arrests on the on Tuesday evening.

According to Archer, Gary Siders Sr., Gary Siders Jr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders all face 17 counts each of child endangering, a second-degree felony. Officials say none of the suspects are from Vinton County and “had been traveling.”

Wilson says this is not a human trafficking case. He says the investigation has been ongoing and culminated Tuesday morning in a search warrant at a home on Ohmer Street in Hamden. Wilson, Cain and Archer all called the conditions in the home “horrendous” and “deplorable.”

“This is pure evil. What we saw down here today is pure evil.”

-Ohio AG Andy Wilson

 Wilson commended the deputies and Ohio BCI agents who investigated the case and their swift actions to get medical help for the children in what he called “one of the worst environments” he’s seen in his career.

“I’ve been doing these types of cases for a long time. I’ve spent a big portion of my career dedicated to prosecuting these types of cases, and I can tell you this is pure evil. What we saw down here today is pure evil,” Wilson said.

Prosecutor Archer says investigators have not been able to speak with the children at this time.

“This is a felony of the second degree because it involves serious physical harm,” Archer said. “We have 17 counts because we couldn’t even talk to the kids to get names and contact information, so it will eventually only be 16 counts.”

Attorney General Wilson says the children, who range from 1.5 to 18 years old, are currently receiving medical treatment at “hospitals around the state.” He says “several” of them are in serious condition, and two had to be flown to trauma centers.

“I want to stress that our focus right now is on the safety of the children. These kids are being evaluated medically, and we’re trying to get them placed, and that is our primary concern at this point,” Archer said.

Sheriff Cain says there is no outstanding threat to the community.

The investigation is still ongoing, officials say. Because of the continuing investigation, Wilson says officials are still limited in what details they can give at this time.

Archer says that as the investigation continues, more charges could be possible.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued the following statement regarding the news.

“Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson has kept me informed about the tragic situation in Vinton County. I have talked to Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain to offer any help that we might be able to provide. The Director of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Kara Wente, has been working today to assist Vinton County Children’s Services, and will continue to help in the days ahead.

“It is heartbreaking to learn the conditions that these children were living in, and to learn of their medical conditions. Attorney General Wilson is an experienced prosecutor and he has told me he has never seen anything like what he saw today. Fran and I pray for these children, and thank the children’s services workers, law enforcement officers, and medical personnel who are helping them.”

Man on Trial for Child Rape & Triple Murder Jumps to Death from Courthouse Balcony

© WKBN27 / YouTube

A man has jumped to his death from an Ohio courthouse balcony just before standing trial for triple murder and the rape of a 10-year-old girl.

Robert Seman Jnr faced the death penalty if he was found guilty of the rape and murder of 10-year-old Corinne Gump and the murder of her grandparents Judy and William Schmidt, whose home he allegedly set on fire in March 2015.

However, the 48-year-old plunged to his death after flinging himself from the fourth floor courthouse balcony – just as he was about to enter the courtroom.

CCTV footage of the macabre incident released by Mahoning County Sheriff’s office shows Seman being escorted by police officers along a county courthouse corridor in Youngstown, Ohio.

Seman, dressed in a white shirt and khaki pants, was not wearing handcuffs at the time of the incident and managed to hurl himself over the balcony as cops belatedly scrambled to stop him.

Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene told WKBN that the lack of handcuffs was standard procedure, “Due to the fact that the courts do not want individuals on trial to be seen with restraining devices on, or per se, in custody.”

Seman’s attorney said the apparent suicide was completely unexpected as his client maintained his innocence.

However the prosecution say his actions were an indication of guilt. "He knew the evidence against him,” Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa said. “Every witness we talked to in preparation for the case, they didn't know why he wasn't pleading guilty or asking for some sort of plea, so this is very telling.”

Prosecutors allege that Seman abused Corinne Gump from the age of four to nine years old. Investigators believe he set fire to the house hours before the child was due to testify against him for the years of alleged sexual assault. He had only recently been released from prison under electronic monitoring and was awaiting trial on the rape charges.

Days after the deadly arson attack Seman was charged with attempting to bribe his ex-wife to lie for him at the rape trial, Cleveland.com report. The woman allegedly refused her ex-husband’s request.

The Sheriff's office is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.

Mahoning Co., Ohio

Serial Child Abductor Eludes FBI as They Seek Public’s Help

    © cleveland.com / YouTube

A man suspected of kidnapping a 6-year-old in Cleveland in May and attempting to snatch a 10-year-old in Elyria, Ohio, in February continues to baffle the FBI. After receiving hundreds of tips, the agency has no leads and will expand its search.

The FBI has received 325 tips about a man suspected of abducting a 6-year-old girl in Cleveland, but they’ve come up empty-handed, despite splashing the suspect’s picture across social media and advertising billboards.

Last Thursday, the FBI gave out more information about the kidnapping of the Cleveland 6-year-old girl for the first time by acknowledging that she had been harmed by her kidnapper.

"He didn't take her to have a tea party," FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said. "He did things to her that we're not going to go into. But she was harmed. We're happy she's alive but they didn't play Barbies."

The Cleveland girl was held for roughly 17 hours with her attacker. She described the room she was held in as having a picture of a deer on the wall and told authorities that she heard a female voice asking her abductor if he wanted anything to eat.

Anderson said that they do not believe the woman was aware that the child was being held in the home, but it should intensify the search.

"Someone knows him," FBI spokeswoman Kelly Liberti told the Plain Dealer. "Someone was in the house with the girl."

That kidnapping is believed to be connected to an attempted abduction of a 10-year-old girl in northeast Ohio. On February 24, it is believed that the suspect went into the girl’s home and unlocked several doors and windows, the Plain Dealer reported. The next night, he tried to pull the girl out of the window by her legs. She was able to fight off her attacker and ran to her father for help.

A part of the difficulty the FBI has experienced is that they were unable to get a clear image of the suspect. The only pictures of him were taken by a surveillance camera in an alley near the home of the Cleveland girl a week before her kidnapping. The low quality of the image was not helped by the fact that he wore a hat, hood and sunglasses.

A composite sketch was also released, but it “looks like half the guys in Ohio,” Anderson told the Plain Dealer.

They also have photos of his vehicle but were unable to get a license plate number. This leaves the FBI struggling with more ambiguous information that has made finding solid leads difficult. They’ve narrowed the vehicle down to a dark colored 2002 or 2003 Chevy Malibu, but unfortunately that is also not an uncommon car.

The most distinguishable feature on the car is a lighter colored panel on the front driver’s side and an after-market spoiler on the back.

Who puts an after-market spoiler on a Malibu? There can't be that many vehicles that fit that description, and there must be thousands of people who have seen it. The FBI should be focusing attention on that spoiler and a photo of it should accompany the photo of the perv.

Law enforcement has reached out to chop shops and salvage yards to see if anyone had come across a similar vehicle, but they’ve had no luck so far.

There is a $20,000 reward for the abductor’s capture, and the FBI is encouraging anyone with information to come forward before the kidnapper tries again.

"Whoever he is, he's very dangerous," Liberti said. "And he's dangerous to anyone with a child."

Ex-Ohio Mayor Admitted Child Rape, said 4yo was 'Willing Participant'

Richard Keenan, former Hubbard mayor © wfmj.com

A former mayor of Hubbard, Ohio, who had boasted of a "dedicated life to Christ," admitted to his wife, pastor, and others that he raped and molested a child for multiple years beginning when she was 4 years old, an Ohio prosecutor said in a legal filing.

In filing the motion, Assistant Prosecutor Gabriel Wildman, of the Trumbull County Prosector's Office, is asking a judge to decide if some of those admissions of guilt will be allowed in court or if the statements are privileged and thus not allowed in the jury trial of Richard Keenan, mayor of Hubbard in 2010 and 2011. Keenan is currently free on $75,000 bond.

Keenan admitted the longstanding sexual abuse to many people, though by Ohio law, a spouse can elect against testifying. A pastor cannot be compelled to testify if "the confession or confidential communication was made directly to the cleric."

Keenan was indicted last month on eight counts of rape and 12 counts of attempted rape and gross sexual imposition, according to the Youngstown Vindicator. The abuse is alleged to have begun as early as September 2013, lasting until June 2016.

A hearing on Wildman's evidence motion is scheduled for January 20, while Keenan's trial is set to begin in April.

Wildman wrote in his filing that when confronted by his wife Diana, whom the child told about the assaults, Keenan "responded, 'I did it.'" Keenan also admitted the abuse during "group discussions" at the ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital psychiatric ward, Wildman wrote.

Keenan later told a social worker at a Warren, Ohio, psychiatric ward that "he was feeling suicidal because he had been molesting the child victim for approximately the past two years," Wildman says, adding that Keenan said the child initiated the acts, calling her a "willing participant."

Keenan also had "in-depth" conversations about the sexual abuse with a pastor, Wildman wrote. Upon being sworn-in as mayor of Hubbard in 2010, Keenan told the Vindicator that he was "a Christian. Dedicating my life to Jesus has changed my life." He added, "Don't preach it, but live it."

Keenan was formerly a Hubbard city council member, a probation officer in Girard Municipal Court, and an employee of CSX Railroad and P&LE Railroad. He is the father of three daughters and three grandchildren.

Keenan's attorney did not respond to the Vindicator's request for comment.

Police Shame Drug Users with Shocking Photo of Them Passed Out with Child in Backseat

Candidates for Parents of the Year

© City of East Liverpool, Ohio / Facebook

Ohio police posted shocking images online of two parents in the middle of a heroin overdose with their four-year-old child in the back seat.

Police in the city of East Liverpool say they came across an SUV on Wednesday driving erratically before braking hard to avoid hitting a school bus.

Although the bus eventually moved on, the SUV stayed still.

When officers approached the car, they found the driver, James Acord, “bobbing” his head back and forth while his speech was “almost unintelligible,” according to the police report.

The 47-year-old told police he was trying to bring his partner, Rhonda Pasek, to the hospital, who was described as being “completely unconscious and turning blue.”

Acord attempted to make a getaway, but the officer reached into the vehicle and removed the keys.

It was at that point police spotted the 4-year-old child sitting in the back seat, later identified as Pasek’s son.


© City of East Liverpool, Ohio / Facebook

Acord “eventually went completely unconscious” as well, police say.

An ambulance was called to the scene and both users were given Narcan, a common way to reverse an opioid overdose.

Once they regained consciousness, they were taken to the hospital, but now the driver is headed to jail after police found a “pink powdery substance” in their car.

In a controversial move, particularly for those who trying to combat the stigma of drug addiction, police posted two images of the car on Facebook, showing them slumped over in the front seat while the child can be seen behind them.

“We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug [heroin],” the post opines. “We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess. This child can't speak for himself, but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody.”

The child has been placed with a family friend.

Instead of getting drug rehab for their addiction, Acord and Pasek now face criminal charges.

The driver pleaded no contest on Thursday to driving under the influence and endangering children. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail and a $475 fine, according to the Morning Journal.

Pasek, 50, pled not guilty to charges of endangering children and disorderly conduct, as well as a seat belt violation.

Pharmaceutical Companies making billions on legal opioids

Opioid addiction is a growing epidemic in America, causing more deaths than gunshots or car crashes. In spite of that, many opioid-containing drugs are legally available in the US and pharmaceutical companies rake in billions of dollars in profit.