In Sissonville, West Virginia, a white couple was charged with human sex trafficking and abuse after it was said that they locked their five adopted Black children in a barn and made them work.
WV Metro News says this is the second time the couple has been arrested on charges related to children. Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, went to court in Kanawha County on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen new charges. These included trafficking a minor for sexual exploitation, using a minor for forced labor, and child neglect putting the child at a high risk of serious injury or death.
Following a different event in October 2023, Lantz and Whitefeather were first arrested and given $200,000 bonds. When their home was checked for health problems at the time, it was found that two of the five adopted children were living in “deplorable conditions” in a shed behind their house.
The indictment says that the couple broke the children’s human rights by making them work because of the color of their skin.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers said that in all of her years of work, she had never seen a case where children were used as “slave” labor.
“It claims to have found human trafficking, violations of human rights, and forced labor,” Akers told WV Metro News. “The indictment says that these children were treated like slaves and that their human rights were violated because they were picked on because of their race.”
During the court hearing on Tuesday, Akers said that the couple’s original bond was not enough, so she raised it to $500,000 each because the crimes were so bad.
“Along with human trafficking and neglect was a serious risk of harm or death, I don’t think the bond is enough,” Akers said.
In this case, prosecutors were worried about the couple’s finances because they said they used money from trafficking and help from family to pay their first bond in February. But that money is still in the office of the Kanawha County Circuit Court Clerk.
Christopher Krivonyak, an assistant prosecuting attorney for Kanawha County, suggested putting the money in a trust fund for the kids.
Each child, ages 6 to 16, was allegedly severely abused by the couple. Neighbors confirmed that the children were forced to work and were not allowed in the house. Instead, they were reportedly made to sleep on concrete floors without mattresses, had to deal with bad bathroom conditions and injuries, and weren’t given enough food.
