A judge has revoked the bond of a West Virginia couple accused of human trafficking. According to MetroNews, Donald Ray Lantz and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, who are both white, are accused of enslaving five adopted Black children.
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Details On The Initial Arrest Of The West Virginia Couple
The news website said that the change happened almost two weeks ago, on June 11. In October 2023, local law enforcement arrested Donald and Jeanne. When they checked their home in West Virginia, they found out that two of their adopted teenagers were locked up in a shed on their property.
Donald and Jeanne were not at home when the deputies arrived. Deputies found a third Black child, aged 9, in the main home of the West Virginia couple. Donald Ray Lantz came home with an 11-year-old Black boy three hours after their wellness check. Jeanne pulled up to the house and led deputies to the last child, a 6-year-old Black girl.
The 16-year-old girl told deputies that the couple locked her and the 14-year-old boy in a shed for 12 hours without food. Also, the 14-year-old boy had open wounds on his bare feet, according to court papers that MetroNews cited. The teens looked dirty and had body odor.
Jeanne Kay Whitefeather told the court the shed was a “teenage clubhouse” that wasn’t locked. But reports from deputies said something different. The shed had no running water and only a RV porta potty. The teens also said that they had to sleep on the concrete floor without a mattress or padding.
The report said that neighbors said the children had to work on farms and couldn’t stay in the house. It’s not clear who called local authorities about the wellness center.
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A judge cancels a couple’s bond for this reason.
Donald and Jeanne face multiple charges related to human trafficking of a minor child, using a minor child in forced labor, and child neglect with risk of death. Even though there was evidence and witness accounts, the West Virginia couple didn’t admit to the charges.
The authorities kept them in the South Central Regional Jail. They originally had a bond of $200,000 each. They paid it in February after selling a 80-acre farm in Washington for $725,000.
But Kanawha County prosecutors said in court that the money for their cash bonds was “contraband used or intended to be used” to break human trafficking laws.
This month, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers found that the prosecutors arguments were valid. Akers cancelled their agreement saying it wasn’t enough and increased it to $500,000 each.
The Kanawha County Circuit Court Clerk’s office is still holding onto the money the West Virginia couple paid in February. Judge Akers thinks the money should be given to the children who were hurt in the case.
“[The indictment] alleges human trafficking, human rights violations, the use of forced labor,” Judge Akers said. “Human rights violations specific to the fact that these children were targeted because of their race and they were used basically as slaves from what the indictment alleges.”
The West Virginia couple are due back in court on September 9 for their trial.
