AP โ A West Virginia jury has convicted a couple who were accused of neglect and forced labor involving their adopted children, including locking some of them in a shed, forcing them to sleep on the floor and use buckets as toilets. The jury deliberated for eight hours before reaching a verdict on Wednesday in the trial of Jeanne Kay Whitefeather and Donald Ray Lantz. The couple, who are white, were accused of mistreating their children โ all of whom are Black. They went on trial in mid-January on more than a dozen felony counts each that included forced labor, civil rights violations, human trafficking and child neglect.
Whitefeather and Lantz adopted the five siblings while living in Minnesota, moved to a farm in Washington state in , and then brought the family to West Virginia in May , when the children ranged in age from 5 to The couple was arrested in October 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 alone crying in a loft with no protection from falling, according to a criminal complaint.
A fourth child was with Lantz when he eventually returned. The children were found in dirty clothes and smelling of body odor, deputies said, and the eldest boy was found barefoot with what appeared to be sores on his feet. During the trial, neighbors in Sissonville 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. She 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, including the same bucket for using the bathroom while the other held up a sheet for privacy. The couple and their attorneys pushed back on the allegations, with Lantz testifying that the chores were assigned to teach the children responsibility.
Prosecutors also entered racist text messages into evidence that they said were from Whitefeather, who denied writing them. Tuck said the couple never drove the oldest boy for help for his mental health issues in West Virginia, where there was a behavioral health clinic four minutes from their home.
