A white couple from West Virginia have been collectively sentenced to 375 years in jail for forcing their 5 adopted black kids to work on their farm as “slaves” whereas being berated with racial slurs.
Jeanne Kay Whitefeather obtained as much as 215 years in jail and her husband, Donald Lantz, will serve as much as 160 years — the utmost sentence — after the pair have been convicted of pressured labor, human trafficking and little one 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 Choose Maryclaire Akers barked on the defendants on Wednesday.
“And may God have mercy on your souls. Because this court will not.”
The 4 oldest kids penned emotional letters to their adoptive dad and mom, which have been learn aloud within the courtroom. The youngsters stated within the letters that they’ve endured life-changing trauma that’s left them scarred with belief points 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, advised the courtroom.
Final month, the 18-year-old sued the couple, alleging extreme bodily and emotional abuse and neglect that has scarred her completely.
The couple adopted the 5 black siblings in Minnesota, then moved to a farm in Washington state in 2018 earlier than selecting up and transferring to Sissonville, West Virginia, in Might 2023 when the kids have been between 5 and 16 years previous.
Whitefeather and Lantz have been arrested months later in October 2023 after a toddler welfare name led to the invention of two youngsters — the eldest daughter and her teenage brother — locked in a shed on the couple’s residence.
When police pried open the barn door with a crowbar, they discovered a porta potty however no lights or operating water. One of many teenagers advised police they’d been locked within the barn and never fed for 12 hours.
The siblings stated the couple pressured them to sleep on the concrete ground with none mattresses. They each wore soiled garments and had physique odor, police famous, in response to the submitting.
Inside the primary residence, a 9-year-old woman was discovered crying in a loft alone. Three hours later, Lantz arrived with an 11-year-old boy. Whitefeather quickly adopted with a 5-year-old woman.
All 5 have been turned over to Youngster Protecting Companies after the couple’s arrest.
Choose Akers stated final 12 months after they have been indicted “these children were targeted because of their race, and they were used basically as slaves.”
In the course of the trial, neighbors testified that they by no means noticed the kids taking part in however did witness them standing in line or performing arduous labor. As soon as Lantz seen his curious neighbors, he saved them largely inside, prosecutors stated.
The eldest daughter testified that a lot of the outside work occurred on the household’s Washington residence, the place a few of them have been pressured to make use of their palms to dig.
She additionally stated the kids have been verbally abused “all the time” and that Whitefeather used racist language.
They have been fed largely peanut butter sandwiches at scheduled instances, and a few kids have been pressured to face of their rooms for hours with their palms on their heads.
The 2 oldest kids have been pressured to sleep on the ground of their shared room and used the identical bucket for the lavatory whereas the opposite held up a sheet for privateness from the house’s safety cameras, in response to testimony.
The couple’s protection attorneys argued that they have been overwhelmed after taking within the kids, who have been already affected by the abuse of their organic dad and mom.
Whitefeather’s legal professional, Mark Vegetation, stated throughout closing arguments that the couple’s solely crime was dangerous parenting.
“These are farm people that do farm chores,” Vegetation stated. “It wasn’t about race. It wasn’t about forced labor.”
With Publish Wires
