A white West Virginia couple is accused of adopting five Black children and forcing them to work on their farm. The couple faces numerous criminal charges, including human trafficking, forced labor, and child neglect, NBC reports.
According to the 16-count indictment, Jeanne Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, adopted the five children ages 6 to 16 from a shelter for vulnerable and homeless youth and targeted them for forced labor specifically because they were Black. The shocking allegations led the judge in the case to say the children were being “used as slaves.”
They were found at Whitefeather and Lantz’s home in Sissonville by Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies after a 911 call led to a welfare check.
Two of the children, ages 14 and 16, were found in deplorable conditions in a locked barn.
“The children had no means to exit the barn on their own, no running water, no bathroom facilities, and were obviously deprived of adequate hygienic care and food,” the sheriff’s department said in a written statement. The children’s neglect was apparent from court documents, which mentioned the teens were dirty and the 14-year-old boy had sores on his bare feet.
The young victims said they’d been locked in the barn for about 12 hours and were forced to sleep on the concrete floor. Neighbors said the children weren’t allowed inside the home.
Despite no apparent way of leaving the barn, Whitefeather’s attorney, Mark Plants, said there was a key inside the shed and that there was “just a plain and simple misunderstanding about what is going on here,” as reported by the Associated Press.
Another 9-year-old child was found in the house locked up alone. Hours later, Lantz came home with an 11-year-old boy and led deputies to a 6-year-old girl who was staying with the couple’s friends.
According to the West Virginia Metro News, the couple allegedly began abusing the children at their 80-acre ranch in Washington State but moved to West Virginia after they discovered they were being investigated.
Bail had initially been set at a combined $400,000, which the couple paid, but a judge deemed that amount too low and set a new bail at $500,000 each. Prosecutors claim Whitefeather and Lantz paid their initial bail from money garnered from human trafficking at their Washington State and West Virginia homes, which have since been sold.
Speaking to NBC News, Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Krivonyak calls the properties “contraband” and wants the court to set aside the $400,000 bond. “We said, ‘Judge, we want you to hold on to the money until we have a chance to litigate the claims. If we’re right, that money should go to the kids.’”
This isn’t the first case of white adoptive parents allegedly abusing the Black children in their care. One particularly egregious incident was that of the Hart family, where a lesbian couple killed their six adopted children by driving off of a cliff in a murder-suicide.
Whitefeather and Lantz are being held at South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County. They’ve both pleaded not guilty, and their trial is set for September 9th.