This case shocked West Virginia. A white couple is accused of forcing two Black adoptees to work on their farm. Jeanne Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, face a 17-count indictment that includes human trafficking, civil rights violations, child neglect, and the forced labor of minors.
Details first came to light in October 2023 after a 911 call to local police in Kanawha County. The caller was concerned about the welfare of the children. What the police actually found at the farm was truly alarming.
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The two children, then aged 14 and 16, were locked away inside a small room in a barn. The conditions were deplorable, lacking even the most basic of necessities, like running water or a bathroom. The children were being used as slaves, Judge Maryclaire Akers who is presiding over the case, later remarked.
What shocked West Virginians most was how the accused couple targeted children, finding them in shelters among other homeless youths. As well as being forced to work, they were barred from the house and made to live outside.
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In a move that strongly suggests Whitefeather and Lantz knew exactly what they were doing, the unscrupulous couple had relocated from Washington State after they’d come under suspicion, skipping out on an investigation into how they were treating the children in their care.
The Whitefeather and Lantz Isn’t Unique
Despite the couple’s attorney, Mark Plants, insisting the indictment is the result of a misunderstanding, the local community has been stunned by the scale of the allegations. The prosecution described a much different scenario than the one given by Plants, one of systematic and inhuman child abuse that amounts to criminal exploitation.
There have been calls for more rigorous adoption screening especially when the adoption involves children from different racial backgrounds. This case has stunned people. But, it has reignited discussions about how vulnerable children in transracial adoptions are.
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Sadly, this case shadows that of the Hart family, where 6 adopted Black children were killed by their white adoptive mother in 2018. That case left a community reeling, and it sparked calls for urgent reform. The fact something similar has happened again so soon underscores the endemic shortcomings of the foster care system.
Lantz and Whitefeather are being held in custody on a $500,000 bond in the South Central Regional Jail until their September 9th trial date. It’s the prosecution’s aim to secure the funds derived from their criminal activity for the traumatized children.
This tragic story has ways to go before reaching its conclusion. It’s a tale that has forced people into re-examining racial bias. For many, the greatest shock has been that such a thing still takes place in the 21st century. Because this case is so abhorrent, there is hope it will stir the powers that be into immediate action. Hopefully, something definitive will finally get done to protect vulnerable children alone and in care in America.
