All four people charged after authorities allege they found 16 children in “deplorable” conditions June 30 inside a Vinton County home waived their rights to preliminary hearings July 7, according to court records.
Gary L. Siders Jr., 36; his wife, Elizabeth Siders, 36; his father, Gary L. Siders Sr., 73, and the elder Siders’ wife, Christina Siders, 67, had been scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. in Vinton County Common Pleas Court.
Preliminary hearings require prosecutors to present evidence and testimony that a crime probably happened and that the defendant committed it. It also lets defense attorneys cross-examine investigators on the stand. Defendants may waive their rights to such hearings, as was the case here.
In Franklin County, prosecutors almost always cancel preliminary hearings because a grand juries end up indicting defendants before that. Vinton County’s grand juries do not meet as frequently.
On July 7, the Vinton County prosecutor asked the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to handle the four cases. Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins will take over the case, according to court records.
Each of the four suspects faces 16 counts of felony child endangerment. The individual charges correlate to each of 16 children state and local authorities allege they found living in “deplorable” conditions June 30 in one room inside a home in Hamden village in Clinton Township.
Gary Siders Sr.’s attorney asks judge to lower $300,000 bond
An attorney for Siders Sr. filed a motion July 7 seeking to modify his bond. The elder Siders has limited mobility, concerns for both his mental and physical health, and his attorney, Dorian Baum, expressed concerns about his ability to assist with his defense.
Baum asked Vinton County Common Pleas Judge Laina Fetherholf Rogers to change the bond from the $300,000 set during a July 1 hearing to a recognizance, or signature bond.
A recognizance bond, or signature bond, allows a defendant to be released from jail, pending a criminal trial, by signing documents assuring they will return to court for future hearings, without paying cash bail.
Siders Sr. would be willing to wear a GPS monitor and abide by any conditions Fetherholf Rogers would want to impose, Baum said.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Siderses waive preliminary hearings in Vinton County child abuse case
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
