White couple accused of adopting black children and forcing them to work 'as slaves' on West Virginia farm – Essence

A white couple from West Virginia is accused of adopting five black children and forcing them to work on their farm. The couple faces numerous criminal charges, including human trafficking, forced labor and child neglect, NBC reports.

According to the 16-count indictment, Jeanne Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, adopted the five children, ages 6 to 16, from a shelter for vulnerable and homeless youth and subjected them to forced labor precisely because they were black. These shocking allegations led the judge to declare that the children were “used as slave labor.”

They were found at Whitefeather and Lantz's home in Sissonville by Kanawha County sheriff's deputies after a 911 call led to a welfare check.

Two of the children, aged 14 and 16, were found in deplorable conditions in a locked barn.

“The children had no means of escaping the barn on their own, no running water, no toilet facilities and were clearly deprived of proper hygiene and food,” the sheriff’s department said in a written statement. The children’s neglect was apparent in court documents, which noted that the teens were dirty and the 14-year-old boy had sores on his bare feet.

The young victims said they were locked in the barn for about 12 hours and forced to sleep on the concrete floor. Neighbors said the children were not allowed inside the house.

Despite the apparent lack of a way to exit the barn, Whitefeather's attorney, Mark Plants, said there was a key inside the shed and that there was “just a simple, clear misunderstanding about what's going on here,” as reported by the Associated Press.

Another 9-year-old boy was found locked alone in the house. Hours later, Lantz returned home with an 11-year-old boy and led police to a 6-year-old girl who was staying with the couple's friends.

According to West Virginia Metro News, the couple allegedly began abusing the children on their 80-acre ranch in Washington state, but moved to West Virginia after discovering they were under investigation.

Bail was originally set at $400,000, which the couple posted, but a judge ruled that amount was too low and set bail at $500,000 each. Prosecutors say Whitefeather and Lantz paid their initial bail with money raised from human trafficking at their homes in Washington state and West Virginia, which have since been sold.

Speaking to NBC News, Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Krivonyak called the property “contraband” and asked the court to revoke the $400,000 bail. “We said, ‘Judge, we want you to hold the money until we have a chance to litigate the claims. If we’re right, that money should go to the children.”

This is not the first time that white adoptive parents have abused black children in their care. One particularly serious case is that of the Hart family, where a lesbian couple killed their six adopted children by jumping off a cliff in a murder-suicide.

Whitefeather and Lantz are being held at the South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County. They have both pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial on Sept. 9.