A couple living in West Virginia, originally from Washington state, has been accused of forcing their five adopted black children to work as slaves and locking them in a shed, according to a police report.
The New York Post reported that Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Ray Lantz, 63, have been charged with over a dozen offenses, including using children for forced labor, human trafficking of a minor, and child neglect.
According to the Post, prosecutors said they have evidence the couple moved to West Virginia from Washington state after discovering they were under investigation for abuse and neglect.
Whitefeather and Lantz were initially arrested in 2023 after a wellness check revealed that two of their adopted children were living in “deplorable conditions” inside a shed.
The indictment against Lantz and Whitefeather alleges the couple violated the children’s human rights by compelling them into labor.
The couple appeared in the Kanawha County court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.
Wealthy white couple allegedly kept their black adopted children as slaves, locked them in barn: report https://t.co/5XK8wuNdxU pic.twitter.com/wLx4HWTF87
— New York Post (@nypost) June 25, 2024
From the New York Post:
A wealthy white West Virginia couple forced their adopted black children to work as slaves and sleep in a barn, according to disturbing charges.
Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen new charges on Tuesday after two teens were found locked in a crumbling shed in ratty clothing, MetroNews reported.
Lantz and Whitefeather were first arrested in October after a wellness check led to the discovery of the couple’s five adopted children — ages 6, 9, 11, 14 and 16 — living in deplorable conditions on their Sissonville property.
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The couple faces numerous charges, including human trafficking of a minor child, use of a minor child in forced labor and child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death.
Whitefeather and Lantz were arrested after a child welfare call by a neighbor claimed two teenagers were being locked in a shed at the couple’s Sissonville home, according to a court filing, WCHS reported.
“Neighbors also reported that the children were forced to perform farm labor and were not permitted inside the residence,” the filing stated.
Police found a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl locked in the shed. Inside was a small RV porta-potty but no lights or running water. One of the teens told police they had been locked in the barn for 12 hours after they were last fed.
The two said the couple forced them to sleep on the concrete floor without any mattresses. They both wore dirty clothes and had body odor, police noted, according to the filing.
The girl wore shoes while the 14-year-old boy had “open sores on his bare feet,” court documents said.
A 9-year-old girl was found by police inside the main residence. Three hours later, Lantz arrived with an 11-year-old boy. Whitefeather soon followed with a 6-year-old girl who’d been with acquaintances.
Whitefeather told deputies that the two teens were locked in the outbuilding but claimed they “liked it” and called it a “clubhouse.”
The children described ongoing abuses at the West Virginia home and their parents’ other residence in Washington state.
Prosecutors also said they have evidence the couple moved from Washington after they learned they were under investigation for abuse and neglect.
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Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Krivonyak said the couple sold an 80-acre ranch in Tonasket, Washington, for $725,000 on Feb. 2.
Whitefeather’s brother posted two $200,000 bonds to free the couple from the South Central Regional Jail three days later.
On March 28, prosecutors said the couple sold the Sissonville home where they were arrested for $295,000. Prosecutors argued that even if their bond money came from a legitimate source, its intended use was human trafficking and forced labor.
Krivonyak argued the money should be transferred from the custody of the state to a trust fund for the children.
Lantz and Whitefeather were taken back into custody after their bonds were raised to $500,000 each.
