A West Virginia couple has been found guilty of horrific abuse after forcing their adopted children to live in inhumane conditions, work against their will, and suffer through unimaginable neglect.
Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, were convicted after a jury deliberated for eight hours. Whitefeather was found guilty on all 19 charges, while Lantz was convicted on nearly all of them. Their charges included human trafficking, forced labor, child neglect, and abuse.
The children, all of whom were Black, had been adopted from a shelter for vulnerable youth. Prosecutors argued that Whitefeather and Lantz deliberately chose them to exploit them for labor. The couple moved the children to a farm in Washington in 2018, and later to West Virginia in 2023. At the time of their arrest, the kids ranged in age from 5 to 16.
The case first came to light in October 2023 when neighbors saw Lantz lock two of the children—a teenage girl and her younger brother—inside a barn before leaving the property. When authorities arrived, they had to use a crowbar to free the kids. Inside the house, deputies found a 9-year-old girl crying alone.
But the abuse ran much deeper.
During the trial, the eldest daughter, now 18, described the nightmare they endured. She said they were forced to stand for hours to keep from falling asleep. They were pepper-sprayed for disobeying orders and made to hold their hands on top of their heads for long periods. One of her brothers was even hit over the head with a pipe.
The children were regularly called racial slurs, given only peanut butter sandwiches to eat, and wore the same dirty clothes for weeks. She recalled not showering or brushing her teeth for two months.
Despite this, court records show that Whitefeather and Lantz received over $318,000 in child assistance payments from the state of Minnesota.
During the trial, the defense tried to argue that the children were simply doing “farm chores” and denied that race played a role in their treatment.
The couple is now awaiting sentencing, scheduled for March 19. Whitefeather could face up to 215 years in prison, while Lantz is looking at a maximum of 75 years behind bars.
