A couple in West Virginia allegedly forced their adopted black children to work as slaves and were locked in a barn, according to a police report.
The New York Post reported Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Ray Lantz have been charged with over a dozen charges that include using children in forced labor, human trafficking of a minor, and child neglect.
Whitefeather and Lantz were first arrested in 2023 after a wellness check led to the discovery that two of their adopted children were living in “deplorable conditions” inside a shed.
An indictment against Lantz and Whitefeather alleges the couple violated the children’s human rights by forcing 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
Per Yahoo News:
A white couple in Sissonville, West Virginia, faced additional charges of human sex trafficking and neglect after reportedly confining their five adoptive Black children in a barn for forced labor.
According to WV Metro News, this is the second time the couple has been arrested on charges relating to minor children. Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, appeared in Kanawha County court on Tuesday and entered not guilty pleas to over a dozen new charges, which include human trafficking of a minor, using a minor in forced labor, and child neglect posing significant risk of serious bodily harm or death.
Lantz and Whitefeather were initially arrested, with their bonds set at $200,000, following a separate incident in October 2023. At the time, a wellness check was conducted at their home when someone discovered that two of the five adoptive children were living in “deplorable conditions” while locked in a shed behind the couple’s home.
According to the indictment, the couple allegedly violated the children’s human rights by forcing them to work based on their skin color.
Wealthy couple, Donald Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Whitefeather, 62, have been accused of subjecting their adopted black children to forced labor and confinement.https://t.co/GW9S3wSYF5https://t.co/cRMiRXxTMv pic.twitter.com/SZcEchg1tb
— observe_ct (@CtObserve) June 26, 2024
