[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Buckle up for a very horrible story. This one could make you lose some religion in humanity…
A wealthy white West Virginia couple are dealing with a slew of great prices after being accused of adopting Black kids… To work as SLAVES. Donald Ray Lantz, 63, and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, had been initially arrested again in October after two minor kids had been discovered inside a locked shed on their Sissonville property. A involved neighbor who known as the cops described seeing Donald open the shed door, say one thing to the youngsters, after which shut the door and lock it. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Workplace revealed in a press launch on the time:
“Deputies needed to drive entry into the barn the place they positioned a juvenile male and juvenile feminine locked inside an approximate 20×14 foot room.”
Based on their report, the kids, a 16-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy, had no entry to meals, a rest room, and even working water… They as a substitute simply had an RV porta-potty. WTF. The shed didn’t even have any home windows or beds!!
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WSAZ additionally reported on the time the youngsters confirmed to officers the shed was locked from the skin — they’d no method to depart. Once they had been rescued, about 5:45 p.m., the 16-year-old revealed the final time she and her brother obtained meals was at 6:00 a.m. that day. 12 HOURS! Courtroom docs additionally revealed the 14-year-old boy had open sores on his naked ft and smelled of physique odor.
Hours later, a 3rd minor baby, a 9-year-old woman, was found contained in the accused pair’s residence. A felony criticism on the time revealed:
“I noticed a small baby by the window, showing to be roughly 5 to six years previous sitting alone on the ground of the loft. I noticed the kid crying and near the railing of an roughly 15-foot drop from the loft. As a result of distressed situation of the kid and danger of the kid falling, compelled entry was made to safe the kid.”
How horrible.
Donald and Jeanne weren’t house on the time of the kids’s rescue, and reportedly didn’t arrive till round 9:00 p.m. — WITH their different youngsters… who’re NOT Black. Jeanne reportedly informed deputies the kids “like” being locked within the shed. Wow. The dad and mom had been arrested and charged with gross baby neglect creating a considerable danger of harm, and bonds had been set at $200,000… Which they had been capable of publish.
Along with their $295,000 house in WV, the pair additionally apparently owned a $725,000 house in Tonasket, Washington, which they offered after their arrests. Nonetheless, their newest indictment upgraded their prices to incorporate human trafficking of a minor baby, use of a minor baby in compelled labor, and baby neglect creating substantial danger of great bodily harm or dying.
Based on a neighbor, the kids had been compelled into doing handbook farm work and weren’t allowed inside the house. Kanawha County Circuit Choose Maryclaire Akers informed MetroNews the accused couple’s unique bond was not adequate to match the extent of their crimes:
“Together with human trafficking and neglect was severe danger of bodily accidents or dying, I don’t discover the bond to be adequate. It alleges human trafficking, human rights violations, the usage of compelled labor. Human rights violations particular to the truth that these kids had been focused due to their race they usually had been used mainly as slaves from what the indictment alleges.”
Their respect bonds had been up to date to $500,000 every. Prosecutors consider a number of the unique $400,000 bond may have originated from the couple’s human trafficking actions. Oof.
This may be a horrific sufficient crime as it’s, exploiting kids for affordable labor, basically torturing them. However add within the race ingredient and the historical past of slavery within the South? It simply will get a lot worse. Clearly they knew precisely what they had been doing. Simply disgusting. Extra particulars (under):
What a very, actually horrid story. We hope these youngsters discover a loving household to take them in.
[Images via West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority]
