The house where 16 children were rescued. [AP]
The house where 16 children were rescued. [AP]

Sixteen children were found in squalid conditions, with human waste strewn throughout, at a rural home in Ohio.

The children were rescued Tuesday from a dilapidated house in the village of Hamden, Vinton County, Ohio, according to AP and other news outlets. Authorities said some of the children had been confined to a single room for nearly four years.

When discovered, some of the children could not speak, and an 18-year-old girl with a developmental disability was unable to write her own name, investigators found. Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain described the scene as "disgusting," adding, "Even our livestock live in better conditions than this."

Four people — the children's parents and two grandparents — were indicted on felony child neglect charges. Local prosecutors said they discovered the children while executing a search warrant related to a separate investigation. The children had not attended school, and no one outside the family had known of their existence.

The interior of the house where 16 children were rescued. [AP]
The interior of the house where 16 children were rescued. [AP]

The children ranged in age from 18 months to 18 years. Seven were taken to a hospital, two by helicopter, and one was reported to be in critical condition. Prosecutors said the children "appeared almost feral." They are now in the temporary care of Ohio's child and family welfare agency.

Investigators said the family had moved around southern Ohio over the past 20 years in what appeared to be a deliberate effort to avoid leaving medical or administrative records. Neighbor Joseph Stewart told AP that since the family moved in, he had "never seen any children" at the property.


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