Court records show that Gallia County Juvenile Court filed truancy complaints against Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders in October 2021, years before investigators uncovered severe neglect involving the family in neighboring Vinton County.
The complaints were filed Oct. 19, 2021, by Gallia County Local Schools Attendance Officer Ronald L. Hammond. They accused the parents of failing to send six of their children to Addaville Elementary School. The children had accumulated more than 72 hours of unexcused absences during the 2021-2022 school year, meeting Ohio’s definition of habitual truancy.
Separate complaints filed the same day classified those six children as “unruly children” under Ohio law. The filings cited habitual truancy and failure to make progress under an absence intervention plan. Records indicate the attendance officer had already notified the parents of the absences and warned them of potential consequences.
These juvenile court actions involved only six of the 16 children later removed last month from a home in Hamden, Vinton County. In the ongoing Vinton County case, four adults, including Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth Siders, face multiple counts of endangering children. Authorities have stated that none of the 16 children were enrolled in school at the time of their removal.
The Gallia County truancy cases never advanced. On Jan. 7, 2022, Judge Thomas S. Moulton Jr. terminated every complaint. Journal entries stated that Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Jr., and the children “are unable to be served” because their whereabouts were unknown to the court. The matters were closed “until the availability” of the parties. The records do not indicate the cases were ever refiled.
These 2021 proceedings were civil juvenile matters focused on school attendance. They remain separate from the criminal child endangerment charges now pending in Vinton County.
The earlier Gallia County filings represent one of the first known attempts by local authorities to address the family’s chronic absenteeism through the court system. The family’s subsequent movements and the later discovery in Vinton County are part of the broader case already under public scrutiny in southeast Ohio.
Court records obtained by ABC 6 Investigates detail these filings and outcomes.
This reporting draws from public court documents and established local news coverage of the Vinton County proceedings. All individuals charged in Vinton County have pleaded not guilty, and the cases remain pending. Juvenile records and ongoing criminal matters carry standard legal protections under Ohio law.
