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Sixteen children were rescued from a dilapidated home in rural Ohio after being confined to just one room in “deplorable conditions” for much of the past four years, authorities said on Wednesday.

The children, who officials said are from the same family and were living in squalor with human waste all around, ranged in age from one and a half to 18 and included boys and girls. Some of them were unable to speak and one – an 18-year-old who was developmentally disabled – could not even spell her name.

“Most of our livestock was kept in better conditions than the children,” Vinton county sheriff Ryan Cain said at a news conference, describing conditions with a high presence of bacteria and human faeces.

“Just a disgusting scene,” he said.

The children’s parents and two grandparents were each charged with 16 counts of second-degree felony child endangerment because it involves “serious physical harm”, said Vinton county prosecuting attorney William Archer. He also stressed that this was not a human trafficking case but an “intra-family situation”.

Authorities discovered the children while carrying out a search warrant in an unrelated investigation, Ohio attorney general Andy Wilson said.

“We didn’t know there were going to be 16 kids there,” said Wilson, who described what he saw at the home in the tiny village of Hamden, which sits in one of Ohio’s poorest counties, as “pure evil”.

The “horrific” scene, Wilson said, was the worst he had encountered in his entire career.

“It’s the type of thing that we’re not used to seeing here in America,” Wilson said, adding that nearly 24 hours later he still “can’t get the smell off of me”.

The sheriff said it appears the children spent most of their time in a room that was roughly 12ft x 12ft. He did not disclose how they were kept inside the home, but said authorities did not find any cages in the house.

Seven of the children were transported to hospitals in Columbus and two were flown to level one trauma centers by helicopters. One child was in critical condition on Tuesday and had to be intubated, Wilson said.

“They looked like almost feral animals,” he said. “It was terrible.”

Gary Siders Jr, Gary Siders Sr, Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders appeared in court on Wednesday where a judge entered not guilty pleas on their behalf and their bond was set at $300,000 each.

Investigators said members of the family had moved around southern Ohio over the past two decades and that it looks like they avoided setting up medical and government records. The children were also not enrolled in school.

“They were pretty adept at keeping these kids out of sight and away from investigators’ eyes,” Wilson said, adding that it seemed as though no one outside the family knew about the children.

Neighbors in Hamden, which has a population of less than 1,000 people and is about 80 miles south-east of Columbus, were shocked to hear that there were children living in that house.

Joseph Stewart, 60, told the Associated Press he saw “no kids at all” since the family moved in. “It’s a sad situation,” he said. Stewart has lived on the street for six years and called it “a quiet neighborhood”.

Another neighbor, Petey Angels, 64, told the Columbus Dispatch that he was shocked at the allegations and had also never seen children anywhere near the home. “Nothing happens here,” Angels said of Hamden Angels. “It’s something you wouldn’t expect in this village.”

Archer said the state is seeking temporary custody of all the children. “Justice will be served for these children,” said Wilson.