By: Thomas Billington
Posted on: Friday, August 14, 2026

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — In the coming weeks, a judge will decide whether the defendants in the Vinton County child endangerment case are competent to stand trial.

But what does it mean to be competent? And what happens if one or more of the defendants are found incompetent?

The first thing to understand is that competency and sanity are not the same thing.

The four defendants were arrested after 16 children were found inside a room in a rental home in the village of Hamden. The room was filthy, including contamination with human feces.

For purposes of an insanity defense, the focus is on a defendant’s mental state at the time of the alleged crime, not the trial. In other words, a person could be competent to stand trial but still plead insanity.

Clockwise from top left: Gary Siders Sr., Gary Siders Jr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders. [Southern Ohio Regional Jail]

Competency, on the other hand, looks at a defendant’s mental condition after they’ve been charged with a crime and are facing trial.

Montgomery County Judge Michele Henne described a competency evaluation this way: “Do you understand the proceedings? Do you understand what is going on here, and are you able to assist your defense attorney? … Do you know the role of the judge? Do you know the role of the prosecutor?”

A competency evaluation can be requested by the defense attorney or prosecutor, and then the judge has to agree to it. In some cases, a judge may have concerns about a defendant’s competency and order an evaluation on their own.

In the Vinton County case, the mother of the 16 children and their paternal grandfather requested and were granted both competency and insanity evaluations. The children’s father and paternal grandmother requested and were granted a competency evaluation.

Typically, a psychiatrist conducts the evaluation — for insanity, incompetency or both — and submits a report to the court. The state employs psychiatrists who conduct evaluations, although a defendant can request a psychiatrist of their choosing, which the judge may approve depending on the person’s qualifications.

In their report, the psychiatrist will offer an opinion as to the defendant’s sanity or competency. But they do not make the final call. 

“Ultimately, it’s the judge’s decision,” said William Davies, a prosecutor for roughly 20 years who now works for the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission. He helped write the commission’s guidelines for competency evaluations.

In some cases, both the defense and prosecution may seek their own evaluations, and disagreements can lead to hearings where a judge weighs competing expert opinions. 

Henne said if the two sides ask for reports, and the results are conflicting, “I make a credibility determination between the doctors, and I make that decision from that.” 

The defense or prosecution can challenge the results of a competency evaluation, but Henne said in her 20 years as a judge she has never seen this happen. “It’s one of those things people usually agree with,” she said.

Davies noted that as a prosecutor he had no interest in putting people on trial who didn’t understand what was going on and were unable to assist in their own defense. In many cases, the evaluation simply confirmed what he had already observed himself.

Once a motion for a competency exam is filed, the case is on hold. Davies explained that legal timelines, including speedy trial requirements, are suspended during this period. 

There are several possible outcomes following an evaluation. A defendant may be found competent, and the case proceeds as normal. If a defendant is found incompetent, the court must then determine whether the person can be restored to competency within a certain period of time.

If a defendant is deemed incompetent but restorable, they may undergo treatment — either inpatient or outpatient depending on the severity of the charges — to try and get them to a point where they are competent to stand trial.

If competency is regained, the case will resume. 

This treatment cannot go on forever, however. For most nonviolent felonies the maximum time allowed is six months.

If a defendant is found incompetent and not restorable, they will not be sent for treatment. “That’s kind of a full stop to the criminal case,” Davies said. The same is true for defendants who spend the maximum time in treatment and still have not been restored to competency.

This outcome does not necessarily mean the defendant goes free, however. Instead, the case may shift to a civil proceeding, and the person can be committed to a psychiatric facility — potentially for a period equal to the maximum sentence they would have faced if convicted on the most serious charge. 

“You can be incompetent and end up not being free for about the same amount of time as if you had been convicted,” Davies said. 

Despite common misconceptions, it is difficult to game the system to avoid trial, Davies said. 

“There’s defendants who will pretend to be incompetent … (but) they have a whole evaluation process to kind of weed that out,” he said. 

Evaluations often include observation periods, psychological testing and interviews designed to detect inconsistencies. Also, simply having a mental illness or developmental disability is not enough on its own to be found incompetent. 

“If they understand what a trial is … then yeah, they can be prosecuted,” Davies said. 

Appeals related to competency rulings are also limited. A finding that halts a case — such as incompetency without the possibility of restoration — can be appealed by the prosecutor. However, if a defendant is found competent, they typically must wait until after the trial is over to file an appeal. 

Legal experts say while the process may seem complex, it is designed to ensure fairness — balancing the individual rights of defendants with the broader social goal of holding people accountable for their crimes.