White Couple Charged With Human Trafficking After Their 5 Adoptive Black Children Were Found Locked In A Shed

White Couple Arrested & Charged With Human Trafficking After Police Discovered Their 5 Adoptive Black Children Locked In A Shed

A White couple from West Virginia have been arrested and charged with human trafficking after police discovered that they neglected and abused their black adoptive children and allegedly made them perform labor as “slaves”.

Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, were initially arrested in October 2023 after the police were called to their residence over claims of child neglect, per Metro News.

Upon their arrival, they found a 14 and 16-year-old locked inside a shed on the couple’s property. According to the teenagers, they had been inside the shed all day with only a small RV porta-potty but no running water and were last given food around 6 a.m. that day.

Shed found on the couple’s farm where the children were allegedly forced to live

The teens’ claim that the couple made them sleep inside the shed on the hard concrete floor was proven through surveillance videos, and the 14-year-old boy had open sores on the bottom of his feet. The authorities were able to recover 3 more children, ages 6, 9, and 11 that same day.

The other 3 children were reportedly outside the home at the time police discovered the first two. It’s gathered that all 5 children were visibly malnourished and smelled of body odor. Donald and Jeanne were arrested for child neglect and placed on a $250k bond each.

Surprisingly, the couple were able to post months later in February. This made prosecutors began investigating how they were able to get the money, since they claimed they were poor.

Further investigation revealed that the couple allegedly forced the children to perform labor as if they were slaves, because they were Black.

This abuse was confirmed by neighbors as well as the children. The couple however denied the allegations, claiming the kids liked the shed because it was a “clubhouse”.

The judge increased their bond up to $500k each and packed on more charges including human trafficking of a minor child, and use of a minor child in forced labor, following the new information. The news has since spread widely across social media, garnering reactions from netizens.