[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Buckle up for a truly horrible story. This one may make you lose some faith in humanity…
A rich white West Virginia couple are facing a slew of serious charges after being accused of adopting Black children… To work as SLAVES. Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, were initially arrested back in October after two minor children were found inside a locked shed on their Sissonville property. A concerned neighbor who called the cops described seeing Donald open the shed door, say something to the kids, and then shut the door and lock it. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office revealed in a press release at the time:
“Deputies had to force entry into the barn where they located a juvenile male and juvenile female locked inside an approximate 20×14 foot room.”
According to their report, the children, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, had no access to food, a bathroom, or even running water… They instead just had an RV porta-potty. WTF. The shed didn’t even have any windows or beds!!
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WSAZ also reported at the time the kids confirmed to officers the shed was locked from the outside — they had no way to leave. When they were rescued, about 5:45 p.m., the 16-year-old revealed the last time she and her brother received food was at 6:00 a.m. that day. 12 HOURS! Court docs also revealed the 14-year-old boy had open sores on his bare feet and smelled of body odor.
Hours later, a third minor child, a 9-year-old girl, was discovered inside the accused pair’s residence. A criminal complaint at the time revealed:
“I observed a small child through the window, appearing to be approximately 5 to 6 years old sitting alone on the floor of the loft. I observed the child crying and close to the railing of an approximately 15-foot drop from the loft. Due to the distressed condition of the child and risk of the child falling, forced entry was made to secure the child.”
How horrible.
Donald and Jeanne were not home at the time of the children’s rescue, and reportedly did not arrive until around 9:00 p.m. — WITH their other kids… who are NOT Black. Jeanne reportedly told deputies the teens “like” being locked in the shed. Wow. The parents were arrested and charged with gross child neglect creating a substantial risk of injury, and bonds were set at $200,000… Which they were able to post.
In addition to their $295,000 home in WV, the pair also apparently owned a $725,000 home in Tonasket, Washington, which they sold after their arrests. However, their latest indictment upgraded their charges to include 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.
According to a neighbor, the children were forced into doing manual farm work and were not allowed inside the home. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers told MetroNews the accused couple’s original bond was not sufficient to match the extent of their crimes:
“Along with human trafficking and neglect was serious risk of bodily injuries or death, I don’t find the bond to be sufficient. It alleges human trafficking, human rights violations, the use of forced labor. Human rights violations specific to the fact that these children were targeted because of their race and they were used basically as slaves from what the indictment alleges.”
Their respect bonds were updated to $500,000 each. Prosecutors believe some of the original $400,000 bond could have originated from the couple’s human trafficking activities. Oof.
This would be a horrific enough crime as it is, exploiting children for cheap labor, essentially torturing them. But add in the race element and the history of slavery in the South? It just gets so much worse. Clearly they knew exactly what they were doing. Just disgusting. More details (below):
What a truly, truly horrid story. We hope these kids find a loving family to take them in.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Images via West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority]
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