An ongoing children endangerment case in Vinton County where 16 children where found in “terrible” conditions has sparked more interest in an Ohio bill that would ban child marriage.
Law enforcement authorities allegedly found 16 children in a Hamden house when conducting a search warrant for a parallel investigation on June 30. The Vinton County Sheriff said livestock were kept in better conditions than the children.
Elizabeth Siders, the now 33-year-old mother of all 16 children who range in age from 18 months to 18 years, married Gary Siders Jr., when she was 15 years old in West Virginia. Siders Jr., is now 36, and was 18 at the time they wed.
“At that age you’re very impressionable,” said Ohio state Sen. Bill Blessing, R-Colerain Twp.
The Siders’ eldest child was born two months after they got married.
“The Vinton County thing just proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that marriage under the age of 18 is bad, is wrong, and leads to dire consequences,” said Ohio state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus.
“We need to put an end to this and there’s no legitimate reason why anybody should get married under the age of 18. … It’s just ludicrous.”
DeMora and Blessing introduced Ohio Senate Bill 341 earlier this year, which would require Ohioans to be at least 18 to get married.
Under Ohio’s current law, 17-year-olds are able to marry someone up to four years older than them, as long as a juvenile court signs off on it.
“Eighteen is a magic number,” Blessing said. “You’re truly an adult at that point. You can vote. You can buy cigarettes. You can do a whole host of other things that adults can do.”
The bill passed out of the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee in June, but did not go to a full Senate vote before lawmakers went home for summer break. It has received only supporter testimony.
Gary Siders Sr., 73, Catherine Siders, 67, Gary Siders Jr., 36, and Elizabeth Siders, 33, are each facing 16 counts of felony endangering children in Vinton County Common Pleas Court. They have all pleaded not guilty.
West Virginia lawmakers passed a bill in 2023 that set the minimum age to get married at 16.
“Child marriage not only brings no benefit, but it also destroys girls’ lives, and it often leads to devastating outcomes,” said Fraidy Reiss, Unchained At Last founder and executive director.
“This unfortunate story that has gotten these headlines is just one more reminder — child marriage is dangerous.”
More than 5,000 Ohio children have been married as minors since 2000 and nearly 300,000 minors nationally were married between 2000 and 2018, according to Unchained At Last, an organization dedicated to ending underage marriage.
Seventeen states have a law banning child marriage, according to Unchained At Last.
Michigan and Pennsylvania have banned child marriage, making it all the more important for Ohio to follow suit, Reiss said.
“When one state bans child marriage, what we see is parents taking their kids to the neighboring state to marry them off there instead,” she said.
California, Mississippi, and New Mexico have no age minimum to get married, according to Unchained At Last.
“If we can (pass the Ohio bill), that sends a strong message to California or some of these other states that have no minimum to get your act together and do this,” Blessing said.
Ohio lawmakers will come back after the November election. Any bill that does not pass before the end of the year must be reintroduced in the new General Assembly to be considered.
Blessing is confident the bill will pass during lame duck, likely as part of an omnibus bill, meaning two or more bills combined into one.
“I’m upbeat about it,” he said.
“There might be members who would in a vacuum vote no, but to some degree, doing it in an omnibus bill gives them cover to vote for something like this, even if they don’t like Senate Bill 341.”
DeMora said he will offer up S.B. 341 as an amendment for bills that are voted on during lame duck session.
“It’s too important not to vote on this thing,” he said.
Reiss said she is hopeful, but not confident Ohio lawmakers will pass the bill.
“Banning child marriage — a human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives and creates a nightmarish legal trap for them — banning this human rights abuse costs nothing,” she said.
“It has a zero-dollar price tag. Why have legislators not yet passed this?”
Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.
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