White couple in West Virginia charged with adopting 5 Black children, using them as slaves

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, US (AA) - A white couple in the US state of West Virginia has been charged with adopting five Black children and using them as slaves, multiple media outlets reported Thursday.

Prosecutors have charged Jeanne Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, with multiple criminal counts including human trafficking, child neglect and forced labor.

Investigators said the couple adopted the five kids between the ages of 6 and 16 from a shelter for homeless and vulnerable youths, targeted them for forced labor and had them living in deplorable conditions, according to the 16-count indictment.

"It alleges human trafficking, human rights violations, the use of forced labor," said Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers in the charging documents, 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."

Authorities said they found the children in October during a welfare check and found two of them locked in a small room inside a barn at the couple’s home.

"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 Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement at the time of the disturbing discovery. Deputies also found one of the smaller children locked inside the main home alone.

"Neighbors also reported that the children were forced to perform farm labor and were not permitted inside the residence," according to court documents.

Whitefeather and Lantz are jailed on $500,000 bail, according to jail records.

The couple are accused of abusing the children initially at their 80-acre ranch in the state of Washington before continuing the abuse in West Virginia, where they moved after learning they were being investigated, according to Metro News.

Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.