Latest news with #Whitefeather
USA Today
24-03-2025
- USA Today
Couple sentenced to 375 years collectively for forcing Black children to work 'as slaves'
Couple sentenced to 375 years collectively for forcing Black children to work 'as slaves' A white West Virginia couple convicted of abusing their five adopted Black children and forcing them to work as slaves was sentenced to up to 375 years collectively in state prison. Jeanne Whitefeather, 63, was sentenced to up to 215 years while Donald Lantz, 62, was sentenced to up to 160 years, Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak announced at a press conference Wednesday. In January, a jury convicted Whitefeather of human trafficking of a minor child, violation of civil rights, use of a minor child in forced labor, gross child neglect by a parent (creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury), and child abuse by a parent (causing bodily injury), the prosecutor's office said in a press release. Lantz was convicted of human trafficking of minor child, use of minor child in forced labor, child neglect (creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death), and child abuse resulting in bodily injury. They each have to pay $280,000 in restitution as well, Rusnak announced Wednesday, adding that the sentencing 'ensures that neither of these defendants will ever breathe free air again.' Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers previously said that the case alleged human trafficking, human rights violations," and the use of forced labor, according to West Virginia MetroNews. '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," Akers said. Reports: Children were adopted in Washington, then moved to West Virginia Whitefeather, Lantz and the five children previously lived in Washington, television station WHSV-TV reported. All five children were homeschooled in October 2023, according to the station. At the time, the children were 6, 9, 11, 14, and 16, reported WCHS-TV. The couple was first charged after someone called the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office at 5:46 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2023. The caller asked deputies to come to a home in Sissonville, about 16 miles north of Charleston, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Deputies broke into a shed on the property, where they found a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old locked inside a 20-by-14-foot room. The children had no way of getting out on their own, no running water, no bathrooms and had been denied hygienic care, the sheriff's office said. Inside the main residence, deputies found a small child locked inside alone. The child was in a loft that was 15 feet high, the sheriff's office said. Citing a criminal complaint and the 911 caller, WCHS-TV reported that the children were locked in the shed for days at a time. The caller also told deputies they'd seen Lantz open the door to the shed, talk to the children, and then close the door, locking them inside. The caller said the children were forced to do farm work and not allowed inside the home. Citing the criminal complaint, WCHS-TV reported the teens had dirty clothes and body odor. A deputy also testified and said there was a concrete floor, a pan on a tarp that the children used as a bathroom, and a table and chair. Inside, the teens had no bedding, no air conditioning, and only a loaf of bread and cups of warm water. No caretakers or parents were at the home when authorities first showed up but eventually, Lantz and Whitefeather showed up, the sheriff's office said. Lawyer, defendant's brother say shed was a 'teenage clubhouse' During an arraignment on June 11, Whitefeather's attorney Mark Plants said the shed where the 14 and 16-year-old were found was a 'teenage clubhouse' and the situation was 'just a plain and simple misunderstanding." He said there was a key inside the shed the entire time, reported television station WCHS-TV. One of the witnesses who testified during the trial was Whitefeather's brother, Mark Hughes. Hughes lived in Ohio but said he traveled to Sissonville about a week after his sister's arrest, reported WCHS-TV. He testified that the family was moving to a bigger home with more bedrooms, which explained why the home the children were found in wasn't furnished. Hughes said the shed was a "hangout." He also said his sister told him during a phone call that there was a key inside the shed. 'I was shocked when I saw this key,' he said. During the trial, a photo of a key on a rope was shown to the court. Hughes said he found it on a table in the shed near the door. Plants, Whitefeather's lawyer, previously said the parents made "very, very poor decisions' but a jury would decide what was done factually. Restitution will cover medical treatment for five children When asked about the couple paying the children $280,000 in restitution, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Chris Krivonyak said the children may need counseling or medical treatment in the future. 'We just tried to run numbers that were reasonable based on the circumstances, but we took the cost of a visit to the doctor and assumed a certain number per year over a period of years, and that's how we came up with the number,' he said. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Madison Tuck spoke Wednesday and said she became an assistant prosecutor to help children. 'I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with the children in this case,' she said. 'They are so wonderful, so smart, so funny. They are going to do amazing things in this world, and I'm so grateful to be a part of getting some semblance of justice for them after they experienced all of this.' According to WCHS-TV, the oldest child testified during the trial and had a request for Whitefeather's lawyer, who referred to Whitefeather as the teen's mother. "Don't call her my mother, please,' the teen said. 'That's my only request to you. Her name is Jeanne or Ms. Whitefeather," she said. "Please and thank you." Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Yahoo
White couple who forced their adopted Black kids to work as slaves sentenced to over 100 years
'May God have mercy on your souls because this court will not,' a judge told the white couple convicted for abusing adopted Black children. A white West Virginia couple has been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison after being found guilty of forcing their Black adopted children to work as slaves on their farm. Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 63, and Donald Lantz, 62, adopted five children between the ages of 6 and 16 from a shelter for vulnerable and homeless youth. Prosecutors say the couple specifically targeted the children because of their race before subjecting them to years of horrific abuse. The children were forced to perform hard labor, deprived of basic needs, and treated like 'slaves.' The abuse came to light in October 2023 after a concerned neighbor called Child Protective Services. When deputies arrived at the couple's home in Sissonville, they found two of the children, ages 14 and 16, locked in a shed with a portable toilet and no running water. The children told authorities they had been locked inside for 12 hours and were forced to sleep on the cold floor. Court documents described the children as wearing dirty clothes, and the 14-year-old boy had sores on his feet. A 9-year-old child was found locked alone in the house, while Lantz later returned home with an 11-year-old boy and led deputies to a 6-year-old girl who was staying with family friends. A 16-count indictment accused Whitefeather and Lantz of human trafficking, forced labor, and violating the children's civil rights. Although the couple pleaded not guilty, they were convicted in January. 'You brought these children to West Virginia, a place that I know as 'almost heaven,' and you put them in hell,' Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge MaryClaire Akers said during sentencing, per WCHS. 'This court will now put you in yours. And may God have mercy on your souls because this court will not.' Lantz was sentenced to 160 years in prison after being found guilty of human trafficking, forced labor, child abuse, and neglect. Whitefeather received 215 years after being convicted of the same charges, with an additional conviction for violating the children's civil rights. The couple was also ordered to pay $280,000 in restitution to each victim. During the sentencing, Whitefeather reportedly apologized to the children, saying: 'I just want the court to know that I have made mistakes. I am very sorry for that, and I love my children. I have never, ever done anything to my … children to harm them intentionally. Children, I do love you,' per NBC News. The children, who now describe their former adoptive parents as 'monsters,' are looking ahead to a brighter future. 'I will be something amazing,' one of the children said, per the news outlet. 'I will be strong and beautiful. You will always be exactly what you are — horrible.' More must-reads: George Foreman, heavyweight boxing legend, dead at 76 A woman was killed by her husband during a conjugal visit at a California prison, according to officials In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks
NBC News
21-03-2025
- NBC News
Couple sentenced to hundreds of years in prison for forcing adopted Black children to work as ‘slaves'
A white West Virginia couple found guilty of forcing their five adopted Black children to work as "slaves" on their farm were sentenced to hundreds of years in prison. Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 63, was sentenced Wednesday to 215 years in prison. Her husband, Donald Lantz, 64, received 160 years. 'You brought these kids to West Virginia, a place as I know as almost heaven and put them in hell,' Circuit Court Judge MaryClaire Akers said, according to NBC affiliate WSAZ of Huntington, West Virginia. 'The court will now put you in yours. May God have mercy on your souls, because this court will not,' she said. The couple adopted the children from a shelter for homeless and vulnerable youths. Whitefeather and Lantz were living in Minnesota at the time and moved the children to Washington state in 2018 and then West Virginia in 2023, The Associated Press reported. They were found in October 2023 after Kanawha County Sheriff's deputies went to the Sissonville home to conduct a welfare check. A neighbor reported seeing Lantz lock a girl and her teenage brother in a shed and leave. The sheriff's office said the two children in the shed had no running water or bathroom and had been "deprived of adequate hygienic care and food." The children said they slept on the concrete floor and had been locked inside for about 12 hours before they were found. Another girl was found inside the home. When Lantz arrived home, he had another child with him and led the deputies to a friend's home where the fifth child was staying, WCHS-TV of Charleston reported. An indictment alleged that the couple targeted the children for forced labor because of their race. They were charged with human trafficking, child neglect, forced labor, and other crimes. Whitefeather apologized to the children during the sentencing. 'I just want the court to know that I have made mistakes I am very sorry for that and I love my children and I have never, ever, done anything to my ... children to harm them intentionally,' she said, according to WSAZ. 'Children, I do love you.' The oldest child told Whitefeather and Lantz in an impact statement that they were 'monsters,' the news station reported. 'I will be something amazing,' another child said. 'I will be strong and beautiful. You will always be exactly what you are -- horrible.' The youngest child said they were 'taught to laugh at' their siblings and had to watch a lot of the abuse. 'Now, at my new home, I see that everything was not right with Jeanne and Donald,' the child's impact statement said.
CBS News
19-03-2025
- CBS News
West Virginia couple convicted of abusing adopted children is set for sentencing
A West Virginia couple convicted of the mistreatment of their adopted children, including locking some in a shed, is due in court Wednesday for sentencing. A jury on Jan. 29 found Jeanne Kay Whitefeather and her husband, Donald Lantz, guilty of multiple counts of forced labor, human trafficking, and child abuse and neglect. Whitefeather also was convicted of civil rights violations based on race. Whitefeather faces up to 215 years in prison and Lantz up to 160 years when they are sentenced Wednesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court. The couple, who are white, adopted the five Black siblings while living in Minnesota, moved to a farm in Washington state in 2018, then brought the family to West Virginia in May 2023, when the children ranged in age from 5 to 16. Five months after they arrived in Sissonville, the couple was arrested after neighbors saw Lantz lock the oldest girl and her teenage brother in a shed and leave the property. A deputy used a crowbar to get them out. Inside the main residence, a 9-year-old girl was found crying in a loft alone with no protection from falling, according to a criminal complaint. The children were found in dirty clothes and smelling of body odor, deputies said, and the oldest boy was found barefoot with what appeared to be sores on his feet. A fourth child was with Lantz when he eventually returned, and deputies were later led to a 5-year-old girl. All five were turned over to Child Protective Services after the couple's arrest. Last month the oldest daughter, now an adult, sued the couple, alleging severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect that has scarred her permanently. During the trial, neighbors testified they never saw the children play and witnessed Lantz make them stand in line or perform difficult chores around the yard, including lifting heavy items. After Lantz noticed the curious neighbors, the children mostly stayed indoors. The eldest daughter testified the outdoor work occurred mostly in Washington and that some were forced to use their hands for digging. She also said the children were cursed at "all the time" and that Whitefeather used racist language. The daughter said Whitefeather gave preferential treatment to the youngest child, who wasn't involved in any of the charges, and that Whitefeather had told the other children that she wished for a life without them. The daughter also said the children were fed a steady diet of peanut butter sandwiches at scheduled times, some left over from a previous meal. Some kids were forced to stand in their rooms for hours and keep their hands on their heads. The oldest girl and boy shared a room, were forced to sleep on the floor and used the same bucket for the bathroom while the other held up a sheet for privacy from the home's security cameras, according to testimony. The couple and their attorneys pushed back on the accusations, with Lantz testifying that the chores were assigned to teach the children responsibility. The defense argued the couple was simply overwhelmed with trying to get help for the children's mental health issues, abuse and trauma from their biological home. Lantz's attorney, John Balenovich, said the state's child welfare agency, which the family requested help from several times, "dropped the ball the most in this case." A forensic psychologist for the prosecution testified that the couple's treatment of the children had worsened their conditions. Assistant Prosecutor Madison Tuck said the couple never sought help for the oldest boy despite a behavioral health clinic being just minutes from their home. The boy, whose physical altercation with Whitefeather in 2022 was cited by attorneys as the start of the family's internal struggles, is receiving full-time care in a psychiatric facility. Whitefeather's attorney, Mark Plants, said during the closing argument that the couple was only guilty of making poor parenting decisions. "These are farm people that do farm chores," Plants said. "It wasn't about race. It wasn't about forced labor."
NBC News
19-03-2025
- NBC News
West Virginia couple convicted of abusing adopted children is set for sentencing
CHARLESTON, — A West Virginia couple convicted in the mistreatment of their adopted children, including locking some in a shed, is due in court Wednesday for sentencing. A jury on Jan. 29 found Jeanne Kay Whitefeather and her husband, Donald Lantz, guilty on multiple counts of forced labor, human trafficking, and child abuse and neglect. Whitefeather also was convicted of civil rights violations based on race. Whitefeather faces up to 215 years in prison and Lantz up to 160 years when they are sentenced Wednesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court. The couple, who are white, adopted the five Black siblings while living in Minnesota, moved to a farm in Washington state in 2018, then brought the family to West Virginia in May 2023, when the children ranged in age from 5 to 16. Five months after their arrival in Sissonville, the couple was arrested after neighbors saw Lantz lock the oldest girl and her teenage brother in a shed and leave the property. A deputy used a crowbar to get them out. Inside the main residence, a 9-year-old girl was found crying in a loft alone with no protection from falling, according to a criminal complaint. The children were found in dirty clothes and smelling of body odor, deputies said, and the oldest boy was found barefoot with what appeared to be sores on his feet. A fourth child was with Lantz when he eventually returned, and deputies were later led to a 5-year-old girl. All five were turned over to Child Protective Services after the couple's arrest. Last month the oldest daughter, now an adult, sued the couple, alleging severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect that has scarred her permanently. During trial, neighbors testified they never saw the children play and witnessed Lantz make them stand in line or perform difficult chores around the yard, including lifting heavy items. After Lantz noticed the curious neighbors, the children mostly stayed indoors. The eldest daughter testified the outdoor work occurred mostly in Washington and that some of them were forced to use their hands for digging. She also said the children were cursed at 'all the time' and that Whitefeather used racist language. The daughter said Whitefeather gave preferential treatment to the youngest child, who wasn't involved in any of the charges, and that Whitefeather had told the other children that she wished for a life without them. The daughter also said the children were fed a steady diet of peanut butter sandwiches at scheduled times, some left over from a previous meal. Some kids were forced to stand in their rooms for hours and keep their hands on their heads. The oldest girl and boy shared a room, were forced to sleep on the floor and used the same bucket for the bathroom while the other held up a sheet for privacy from the home's security cameras, according to testimony. The couple and their attorneys pushed back on the accusations, with Lantz testifying that the chores were assigned to teach the children responsibility. The defense argued the couple was simply overwhelmed with trying to get help for the children's mental health issues, abuse and trauma from their biological home. Lantz's attorney, John Balenovich, said the state's child welfare agency, which the family requested help from several times, 'dropped the ball the most in this case.' A forensic psychologist for the prosecution testified that the couple's treatment of the children had worsened their conditions. Assistant Prosecutor Madison Tuck said the couple never sought help for the oldest boy despite a behavioral health clinic being just minutes from their home. The boy, whose physical altercation with Whitefeather in 2022 was cited by attorneys as the start of the family's internal struggles, currently is receiving full-time care in a psychiatric facility. Whitefeather's attorney, Mark Plants, said during closing argument that the couple was only guilty of making poor parenting decisions. 'These are farm people that do farm chores,' Plants said. 'It wasn't about race. It wasn't about forced labor.'
