Posted on 03/21/2025 7:22:48 AM PDT by Libloather
A white couple from West Virginia were collectively sentenced to 375 years in prison for forcing their five adopted black children to work on their farm as “slaves” while being berated with racial slurs.
Jeanne Kay Whitefeather received up to 215 years in prison and her husband, Donald Lantz, will serve up to 160 years — the maximum sentence — after the pair were convicted of forced labor, human trafficking and child abuse and neglect in January.
“You brought these children to West Virginia, a place that I know as ‘Almost Heaven,’ and you put them in hell. This court will now put you in yours,” Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers barked at the defendants on Wednesday.
“And may God have mercy on your souls. Because this court will not.”
The four oldest children penned emotional letters to their adoptive parents, which were read aloud in the courtroom. The children said in the letters that they have endured life-changing trauma that’s left them scarred with trust issues and nightmares.
“I’ll never understand how you can sleep at night. I want you to know that you are a monster,” the eldest daughter, now 18, told the court.
Last month, the 18-year-old sued the couple, alleging severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect that has scarred her permanently.
The couple adopted the five black siblings in Minnesota, then moved to a farm in Washington state in 2018 before picking up and moving to Sissonville, West Virginia, in May 2023, when the children were between 5 and 16 years old.
Whitefeather and Lantz were arrested months later in October 2023 after a child welfare call led to the discovery of two teenagers — the eldest daughter and her teenage brother — locked in a shed at the couple’s home.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Good grief I worked picking cotton, shucking corn, and every thing out there. It never occurred to me that I was slaveing . I was just a kid and it was part of my job. Didn’t complain either. I guess white kids were not allowed to complain and work without pay. White children worked in factories back in my day. They worked in coalmines, fabric mills, etc. I’ve had it now with the complaints. I don’t care if you are purple or green. I’m no5t a bit happy with the last two generations.
I had a great childhood as well. Depending on your outlook hard work is its own reward. I had a crush on the daughter of the people who I worked with mostly bailing hay. I fondly remember the good times we had castrating little bulls. We chased them into the narrow pen that kept them still. I held their testicles while she used the castration pliers that did the job. We made a great team, but she fell in love with someone else.
I remember when this story broke. Here’s more information that might answer some questions. The sources are numbered below.
(1) This article says the couple adopted the five siblings in Minnesota in 2018. Then, they moved to Washington in 2019. They were investigated for abuse in Washington from October 2022 to April 2023. Then, they moved to West Virginia, and right away, their WV neighbors started reporting them for abuse. Finally, the couple was arrested in October 2023 when two kids were found locked in a “barn.”
(2) The two kids found locked in the “barn” were 14 and 16. There was no way for them to exit the barn. They had no running water, no bathroom, and they slept on a concrete floor.
(3) This article calls the place where the kids were locked up a “shed.” The kids were forced to stand for hours, and they used a bucket as a toilet. They were not allowed in the house.
Also, the (3) article reports the couple received $318,000 in child assistance from the state of Minnesota.
(4) The couple set up a camera to watch the locked up kids.
(5) This report shows video of the kids inside the room and gives more information.
(6) CPS dropped the ball in this case.
(7) The WV neighbors talk in this video about what they witnessed and why they reported this couple. They are the heroes in this story.
(1) https://wchstv.com/news/local/more-evidence-revealed-in-sissonville-trafficking-forced-labor-case-set-for-monday-trial
(2) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/white-west-virginia-couple-accused-adopting-black-children-forcing-wor-rcna159032
(3) https://apnews.com/article/child-abuse-west-virginia-whitefeather-lantz-11b110139b04283245e8eac649caa923
(4) https://wvmetronews.com/2023/10/12/sissonville-parent-appears-for-preliminary-hearing-in-gross-child-neglect-case/
(5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrHGWhpYGQg
(6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkO64JdevqY
(7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGQMIdvZQgU
Just a few thoughts:
There isn’t a lot of doubt that the “adoptive parents” were abusive morons and should never have been raising kids in the first place. But the charges that they were convicted of that have sent them to prison for hundreds of years are idiotic. “Forced labor”, “human trafficking”, give me a Frikken break.
The solution here was not to make up ridiculous charges and put the morons in prison for hundreds of years but to take the kids away from them when it was found that they were bad parents. There is no doubt that all of the children were interviewed dozens of times over the years by various people.
They family was likely under investigation in Minnesota which is probably why they left despite getting ample monetary assistance, then it is stated that they were under investigation in Washington for 6 months which likely caused them to move to West Virginia where they were likely under some type of surveillance from shortly after they arrived.
From the NBC link you provided, “the couple paid the initial bond through money they made from human trafficking at their Washington and West Virginia homes”... What are they actually talking about? Is there something else here that we are not being told about? It is likely that the vast majority of funds that they received came directly from the government. This is just one more example of the government giving lots of money to idiots to raise children. What were the kids doing that made a lot of money? There has been nothing that I have seen that accused anyone of sexual offenses.
None of the stories or videos have anything included give any info that even outlines the defense provided by the abusive parents. The closest thing that that is mentioned is that the “dad” came back home with someone else’s 6-year-old who was a friend of one of the children. How did the kids even have any friends if they were locked up and forced to work all of the time? And who would trust their kids with these monsters?
Did the kids go to school? I happen to know from personal experience that in Washington you either have to send your kids to school or jump through a bunch of hoops to home school them. I am pretty sure the situation is similar in Minnesota and West Virginia.
There is not enough information provided in any of the links provided to give one a complete picture of the situation. Somehow the kids managed survive for several years without needing hospitalization.
There was something in one of the links about the kids eating mostly peanut butter sandwiches. In my own situation as a child... peanut butter sandwiches were about the only thing I would eat when I was staying with my grandparents on my dad’s side. I was a very finnicky eater... it had nothing to do with the many healthy choices my grandmother gave myself and my sisters and brother. She went out of her way to provide very healthy food, but we wanted nothing but the crap we were used to.
My wife’s sister was the same her parents would make her sit and watch the other kids eat the healthy meal that her mom had prepared and then they would finally give her the peanut butter sandwich that she demanded. This went on for three years. Should she have been considered an abused child?
>"Did the kids go to school? I happen to know from personal experience that in Washington you either have to send your kids to school or jump through a bunch of hoops to home school them. I am pretty sure the situation is similar in Minnesota and West Virginia."<
The kids went to school at first. Some articles say they stopped when COVID hit; others say they were removed from school when the couple was accused of abuse. Yes, all three states (MN, WA, WV) have over-the-top homeschool regulations that require notification, evaluations, and so on. Of course, homeschool regulations mostly penalize good parents. In most abuse cases, the kids started out in school and/or CPS was called numerous times, and still no one helped the kids - just like this case.
>"None of the stories or videos have anything included give any info that even outlines the defense provided by the abusive parents. The closest thing that that is mentioned is that the “dad” came back home with someone else’s 6-year-old who was a friend of one of the children."<
The 6-year-old was one of their adopted children. She was the youngest, adopted as a baby, and she was treated well by the couple. One of the articles says she was "staying with friends of the couple" when the police arrived.
At first, the couple asked for separate trials. (Maybe they would've turned on each other.) But the judge ordered them to be tried together.
There are stories and videos of their defense claims (for example, here and here). Family members testified on their behalf, saying they never witnessed any wrongdoing, yada, yada. But there's plenty of evidence, including video, and witness testimony.
The couple claims they were overwhelmed. They only wanted the newborn, but the state talked them into adopting her siblings, too. They said one child had disabilities, and they could not handle him, so they made the older sister his caregiver and put them both in the shed. (??) There was a key hidden in the shed to unlock it from the inside. (The sister denies she knew about a key.) It's a strange defense - defending that they locked kids in a shed with a bucket as a toilet.
I think the trafficking charges are due to the fact that they kept these kids locked up, forced them to work, and then moved them to another state and forced them to work there, all while collecting 'child assistance' money from Minnesota.
The case isn't about sandwiches or chores. Many kids eat PB sandwiches and do chores. If these kids lived in a home where they ate meals, took showers, used the bathroom, and slept on beds, the chores and the sandwiches wouldn't even be an issue. But these kids were locked in a shed with a bucket for a toilet. There's really no defense for that.
There are many articles on this situation and many of them have conflicting stories. The fire department that I worked for put me on a “superlist”. For many years, when I showed up at work expecting to accomplishing tasks that I hoped to complete with my crew... I was instead sent to Fire Communications. I answered 911 calls for the next 24 hours and dispatched units and chiefs to fire and medical calls. I also was assigned to answer calls from the media.
I gave the media information about scores of situations over the years. It was astounding to me... that they never got anything right. Everything that they reported had some sort of incorrect spin. Fortunately, every word that I uttered was recorded. Sometimes I was called at home later by my superiors and chewed out. Every time I would tell them to retrieve the tape which was more of a hassle back then than it would be today. I never received an apology; the situation would just be dropped.
You just cannot believe much of anything that you read, hear or see in the media.
I agree completely. The media gives us incorrect information all the time. Also, both the Left and the Right spin stories.
I would never believe a news story without questioning it, and this story is no exception. Even in the articles I found, the information was inconsistent.
But, one detail is not in doubt: Two kids were kept in a locked shed with a bucket for a toilet. The evidence includes video. Neighbors witnessed it.
The couple never denied it - they only made excuses for it. But their excuses were pretty damning.
The woman testified it was a 'teen clubhouse,' and she said the kids had a key and could "come and go as they pleased." I don't buy her story. Who would let their children stay in a locked shed with a bucket for a toilet? In many abuse cases, a child is forced to stay in a bedroom with a bucket. We would never believe a parent who said the child likes to stay in his room with a bucket. Even if the child wanted to, what kind of person lets a child stay in his room with a bucket while everyone else in the house uses a toilet?
The man testified that the boy had mental health issues, and they were denied help for him, so they put him in the shed with his sister. Huh? What kind of person does that?
In sentencing them, the judge blasted them for never accepting any responsibility and never apologizing, which is probably why she gave them the maximum sentence.
As a side note, I just came across another story right here of horrific abuse in another state, Ohio. Those adoptive parents pleaded guilty and were sentenced to only 13 and 15 years in prison. The man in that case also is serving only a 3-year prison term for sexually abusing an older foster son in the home. They should be in prison for life, too! Actually, the man should be executed for what he did.
Idiots do this type of thing. Obviously, these idiots should never have been allowed to adopt five children and after the investigations the children should have been taken from them. But calling this a case of slavery and human trafficking is stupid beyond belief. And sentencing these morons to hundreds of years in prison for being bad parents is stupid beyond belief as well.
The “shed” that I saw in the pictures has an air conditioner, a table, chairs, a tarp or something on the floor. The police said there was a sani-potty, no running water. The bucket you keep insisting was used to go potty in may have been filled with water to wash up with or to drink. Yours is the only account that I have read which said that the sani-potty was actually a 5 gallon bucket. It hardly matters... you don't lock up teenagers and leave them unattended for 12 hours. But I have personally witnessed much worse treatment of kids that did not result in a prison term of hundreds of years for the so called parents. If you really are tired of taxes then you should be upset about the counter-productive use of tax dollars to lock up people for the rest of their lives over this idiocy. What good will the millions spent on this really achieve. Did either of these people have a criminal record previously?
The reason this went this direction and reached idiotic proportions is because it fits an appealing narrative... of white people abusing black children.
One of the articles I linked to called it a bucket. But, OK, it was a “camper toilet” (which is pretty much a glorified bucket).
These people weren’t just bad parents. They collected payments from the state for adopting the kids, and they moved the kids from MN to WA to WV, forcing them to do manual labor and locking them up. They were planning to move the kids again. So, the trafficking charges are justified.
I never mentioned their ‘race.’ The articles don’t even agree on it. Some reports say five black kids; others say three or four of the kids are black. The headlines might grab attention by talking about race. But, to me, the point is these people abused the children they adopted. Period.
I adopted my screenname because of property taxes, especially the school tax. The school tax alone cost me more than $4,000 a year.
Speaking of taxes, where do you think Minnesota got all the money to send to these two people?
The ‘hundreds of years’ is just a life sentence. They’re not going to live hundreds of years.
Yes, some people get away with horrific child abuse. I linked to another case in my last post.
Not that it makes a difference, but I have owned several sani-potties over the years, and still have one, that we still use. They are a far cry from a bucket. They work essentially the same as a toilet, some even have an electric pump. If you use them correctly, keep them maintained, and empty them regularly, they have no noticeable odor.
I agree that these people are idiots and should not have been entrusted to be parents. I personally have known of many much worse situations both professionally and personally. None of the perpetrators received life sentences, the vast majority just got their kids taken away from them but typically only temporarily.
I am in the same boat as you property tax wise, only our bill is over $8000 a year. And yes, the vast majority of it goes to our liberal brain washing institutions for youngsters. But our prison system is extremely expensive as well and it is meant mostly to punish violent criminals not lock up idiots for the rest of their lives at great expense to taxpayers.
All of the kids came from the same family. I have not seen any pictures. Most courts have actually upheld the “one drop” rule to determine if you can be considered black, but others have limited it to 1/32nd, 1/16th, or 1/8th. So, there is a pretty good chance that these kids do not appear to be black to most people. But white parents treating white kids badly would not make the news anywhere.
I am surprised that you seem to believe that this human trafficking, forced labor, and slavery nonsense has any validity at all. This is all media hype. There is no evidence that the kids were beaten or sexually abused so the media had to come up with something sensational sounding to attract interest and ratings. As I told you in a previous post, I have personal knowledge about this as well.
WAs this a bad situation... obviously! Did the “parents” deserve some type of punishment... obviously. Was this a case of human trafficking, forced labor, and slavery... that is ridiculous. Should the “parents” be sent to prison for the rest of their lives... that is ridiculous as well.
I understand your pain. My total property tax was about $7900. The school tax part of it was about $4200. I homeschooled my kids, so the school tax didn't benefit our family. With the hefty tax, I could barely afford the upkeep, but I paid the mortgage on time every month. Then, when the lockdown happened, I was forced to sell the house. I'm still heartbroken over it.
So, yeah, I homeschooled my kids. (Maybe your family did, too?) I know many parents are falsely accused of wrongdoing. Sometimes, homeschool families are treated with suspicion, no matter what we do. People will call the police if the kids play outside during school hours, or they question why they never see the kids playing outside. I know the state can make a case out of anything. In real cases of abuse and neglect, the state will blame a 'lack of oversight' of homeschooling, even when the state placed the children in the home and checked on them repeatedly.
In this case, the news isn't playing up the homeschool angle, probably because all those states (MN, WA, WV) already have onerous homeschool regulations.
But, yeah, the news is playing up the race angle. The optics of this case make attention-grabbing headlines.
The case is more than the shed and the potty. My kids would go on camping trips, and we had a tent in the backyard. So, I get it.
But, in this case, surveillance video shows the kids locked up for days - two in a shed and another two in a room. In both places, the kids slept on the floor. I don't see books, toys, or games in the photos. The couple had cameras set up to watch and talk to them. They would tell them to stand and hold their arms up for long periods of time. The kids rarely bathed or brushed their teeth, and they didn't get much to eat. The mother also was accused of spraying them with bear spray.
>> "All of the kids came from the same family. I have not seen any pictures." <<
I found some photos. Sorry - those few other articles I found must be wrong. I think all the children are black. Some photos are right here.
I think this couple really ticked off the West Virginians in a way that made race a focal point. Here's a short clip from the closing arguments. In the clip, the defense is arguing that race isn't a factor, but then the prosecutor tells the jury: "I want to remind you that defendant Whitefeather and defendant Lantz made a bet when they chose to move to Sissonville, West Virginia. They bet that the people of West Virginia would not care if they mistreated their black children right out in front of the world. I ask you to prove them wrong."
I don't know what she's referring to. Did they actually make a bet? Or, does she just think they moved to WV because they thought WV wouldn't care? It's almost like WV is saying, "Oh, no, you're not... You are not coming here and making us look bad."
From what I can tell, the West Virginia prosecutor saw it this way: This couple adopted needy kids from a shelter, just so they could collect money from the state, and then they locked up the kids and moved them from state to state. It's like they were using them to collect money. That's why I agree with the trafficking charges.
>> "Should the “parents” be sent to prison for the rest of their lives..." <<
Their lawyers will probably appeal the decision. As of now, they both are eligible for parole, but not until they are very old, if they live that long.
I don't feel sorry for them - do you? But I do agree that some cases are far worse, and often, child abusers do not get the jail time they deserve. You are a first responder, so I know you've come across some disturbing cases. Years ago, a firefighter once told me he has seen such terrible things that he can never get those images out of his head.
we had 250 head of mother cows plus calves. roughly 30k square bales.
NOT EVEN CLOSE TO FUNNY
Feather Indians killed, enslaved and ate their prisoners.
Help from where, pray tell?
We never had more than a few dozen cattle at a time. It was less a business and more of a very time-consuming and expensive hobby for my dad. But I can’t really complain. Chasing cows, taking care of pigs, riding horses and doing all of things that boys do on acreage helped keep me out of trouble. We had a menagerie of various species of farm animals not to mention fruit trees and gardens. There was always something that needed to be done. Along with me being sent off to bail hay as sort of an indentured servant at an early age for my dad’s acquaintances.
These are black kids adopted from the state and coming with money to keep them.
They are most likely very difficult children who are abusive and lived a tough life before they were adopted out. They most likely were removed from horrific environments. Drugs sexual abuse, neglect, physical abuse. Each of the kids are not a true adoption but instead, are a case management project that would make the most hardened social worker cry if she had to take them home at night.
I have helped several families disrupt and give back such adoptions. People who want to have and help and end up at the end of their ropes because they never expected such a horror.
My dad brought home mercury for me to play with.
Who am I??
The case isn’t about sandwiches or chores. Many kids eat PB sandwiches and do chores. If these kids lived in a home where they ate meals, took showers, used the bathroom, and slept on beds, the chores and the sandwiches wouldn’t even be an issue. But these kids were locked in a shed with a bucket for a toilet. There’s really no defense for that.
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You are correct, but I would guess the disabled kid is a big guy ore a violent guy that they could not handle , and perhaps the sister could.
I also wouldn't necessarily trust the testimony of the kids.
Hopefully there's plenty of evidence.
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