Why Ohio's AG Called the Siders Case 'Intrafamily'

**Tony Brueski** (0:01)
This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Brueski and Robin Drake.

**Tony Brueski** (0:08)
Let's go to another fine group of folks. 16 children were discovered by a, in a 12 by 12 foot room in Vinson County, Ohio. Some were non-verbal, at least one was in critical condition. Four adults are currently charged, notably the attorney for the defendant, previously linked to a public, not the attorney. Notably, one of the defendants was linked to a public indecency charge. And that's how they actually found the man, or found the family themselves. There's now a gag order on the case. Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer is here to help us break all this down along with Robin Drake, retired FBI Special Agent. There's a lot of questions in this case about what's going on in the dynamics of this family. All of these children in the course of how many years here? It was not a ton. 16 children over what, 17, 18 years, something of that nature.
The Attorney General has described the situation as intra-family while DNA testing is underway, and birth certificates named Gary Jr as the father. The public is also questioning whether Gary Senior might be involved in some of those children's lives, as more than just grandpa.
Where do you think this goes? Obviously, it's conjecture at this moment in time. We don't know. But looking at the group, I think it's a fair question to ask what's going on here, and where did all these kids truly come from?

**Jennifer Coffindaffer** (1:46)
Yeah, you know, when you look at this, a couple of things that have come out recently that I think are really important, and that is that Gary Sr. has been released on his own recognizance, which is shocking, of course, to everybody. But it's because he had this medical issue, and it would literally break the bank of this county, they said, if they kept him incarcerated and treated him. So for that reason, he's been moved to another county, and he's PR Bond. What does that mean? Well, when he's done with his medical treatment, he's free to go wherever he wants to go. Meanwhile, Jr. has said, or Jr.'s lawyer, hey, we don't want this in the media, so now we have a gag order in place. And Elizabeth, the wife of Jr. has said, hey, listen, I think I should get out because I want to care for my children.
I was thinking, hmm, it's a little bit late to be thinking like that. What we do have are two good pictures that show us the squalor they were in. There's another video out. I haven't been able to confirm that it's actually real, but I'll tell you what, those people breaking that evidence tape are starting to be looked into by the sheriff, so it's a very interesting case. I think they are all going down for this at this point based on the photographic evidence and the state of these children.

**Tony Brueski** (3:07)
Let's start with a gag order for a second on this case. Obviously, it initiated with Gary Jr.'s attorney.
But does it truly just benefit Gary Jr. or is this benefiting more of the system of the county, of not being able to answer questions that people are now asking, how did this happen? How did this system allow this to exist? How did you not know of all these children being in this home? Because here's about 20 different paths. So you should in theory have had some knowledge that these children existed. Can't talk about it. There's a gag order. How convenient.
I'm not a fan of this gag order. Do you think that this gag order is putting place moreso to benefit the institutions that have failed moreso than the actual defendants themselves, Jen?

**Jennifer Coffindaffer** (3:58)
Well, I'll tell you what, it does benefit both. Because as you well point out, this is egregious on the side of the government as well, from the standpoint that who, there were so many red flags at the hospital, so many red flags at the school system. They were 18 months to 18 years. You're telling me all this time, nobody knew that 16 children, well, not 16, let's just say 13 weren't getting educated, weren't getting healthcare.
It's just horrible and actually there's just no way these nurses could not suspect something awry when you're on child success. And remember, she purportedly is pregnant again.

**Tony Brueski** (4:43)
Oh God.

**Robin Drake** (4:44)
Yeah, and that's what I think too is, in situations like this, I really question the motive or the intent of the individual putting, not saying that the judge is a bad person or anything, but who's the gag order benefiting in this?