Father of 16 ‘almost feral’ kids rescued from Ohio house of horrors may not be fit to stand trial, his lawyer claims

The Ohio father of 16 kids who were rescued from the house of horrors where they lived like “feral animals” may not be mentally well enough to stand trial, according to his lawyer. 

Gary Siders Jr.’s attorney filed a motion for leave on Friday requesting the 36-year-old father receive a mental competency evaluation, People reported.

The “defendant’s competency to stand trial has been raised, and the documents at issue concern Defendant’s present mental condition and request for psychiatric examination,” the lawyer, R. Lee Roberts, wrote in the motion obtained by the outlet.

The motion also requested that Roberts be allowed to file the documents supporting the request for a psychiatric evaluation under seal as they “contain highly sensitive mental-health information, or information directly reflecting [Gary Jr.’s] psychiatric condition.”

The move to keep Siders Jr.’s records private comes after the judge in the case granted two gag orders — including one requested by Roberts — to prevent Ohio officials from releasing any information or talking publicly about the case outside of official court hearings and filed legal documents, WLWT 5 reported. 

Siders Jr. is one of four family members slapped with 16 counts of felony child endangerment charges.

His wife, Elizabth Siders, 33, and his parents, Gary Siders Sr. 73, and Christina “Lynn” Siders, 67, were also charged.

Authorities executed a search warrant on June 30 in relation to public indecency charges against Siders Jr. which exposed the deplorable squalor in which the four adults and 16 “almost feral” children were living.

Collectively, the family faces 68 felony charges, with all 16 children allegedly suffering serious physical harm, according to prosecutors.

All four have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed on $300,000 bond and could spend a maximum sentence of up to 192 years in prison if found guilty.

Authorities and officials have called the conditions inside the feces-strewn house “horrific” and “pure evil.”

The 16 children rescued — ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years — were allegedly kept isolated in a 12-foot by 12-foot room littered with human waste, with some being unable to speak. 

“This is terrible. They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson previously said.