White West Virginia couple accused of adopting Black children and forcing them to work ‘as slaves’
A West Virginia couple are charged with human trafficking, child neglect, forced labor and more after, prosecutors allege, they adopted five Black children from a shelter to do forced labor and live in deplorable conditions.
A West Virginia couple are charged with human trafficking, child neglect, forced labor and more after, prosecutors allege, they adopted five Black children from a shelter to do forced labor and live in deplorable conditions.
Jeanne Whitefeather.WSAZJeanne Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, are accused of adopting the children, ages 6 to 16, from a shelter for homeless and vulnerable youths, targeting them for forced labor specifically because of their race, according to the 16-count indictment.
“It alleges human trafficking, human rights violations, the use of forced labor,” Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers said of the indictment, according to West Virginia Metro News. “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.”
Donald Lantz.WSAZWhitefeather and Lantz are being held at South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County on $500,000 bail, according to jail records. They both pleaded not guilty this month. Whitefeather’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lantz, who, according to court officials, is representing himself, could not be reached for comment.
Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies said they found the children in October during a welfare check at the couple’s home in Sissonville. They said they forced their way into a barn on the property, where they found two children in a small room.
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