Re those 16 kids rescued from a shed: West Virginia judge approved marriage license for 15-year-old Elizabeth Siders

https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/west-virginia-judge-approved-marriage-license-for-15-year-old-elizabeth-siders-in-2008-vinton-county-sixteen-16-children-rescued-awful-conditions

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Questions about how a 15-year-old could legally get married are now resurfacing as investigators examine the background of Elizabeth Siders, who is charged in connection with the rescue of 16 children from a Vinton County home.

Siders, now 33, faces 16 counts of endangering children after 16 kids were rescued from the home. Nearly 20 years ago, she was a 15-year-old who married Gary Siders Jr., who was 18 at the time, in Mason County, West Virginia.

circuit court judge in West Virginia granted the marriage license in 2008. Two months later, the oldest victim in the case was born. The next victim was born when Siders was 16.


West Virginia family law attorney Amanda Alexander said that at the time, “there was no age minimum to marry in West Virginia.” Alexander said a 15-year-old could marry then with the consent of her parents.

ABC6 Investigates asked whether a judge could have stopped the marriage.

Alexander answered, “The judge absolutely could have stopped this marriage.”

But she said the law did not state the court needed to investigate.