Parents Convicted After Locking Adopted Black Kids in a Barn & Forcing Them To Work ‘as Slaves’

Adoption isn’t for everyone. It takes a special type of person to understand the trauma kids go through when being adopted and to adapt to the unique challenges that come with it. Sadly, West Virginia parents were recently convicted after forcing their adopted Black kids to work “as slaves.”

Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Ray Lantz, 63, of Sissonville, West Virginia, horrifically missed the mark as adoptive parents. They were initially arrested in 2023 in connection with allegedly abusing their five children. Recently, however, they were convicted on multiple counts – and now face significant prison time after being found guilty.

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The West Virginia parents were convicted after treating their five adopted Black kids ‘as slaves.’

On January 29, 2025, a Kanawha County, West Virginia, jury found Whitefeather and Lantz guilty on multiple counts, WCHS reported. Whitefeather was convicted on all 19 counts, including human trafficking, gross child neglect, forced labor, and child abuse. Meanwhile, Lantz was found guilty of 12 of the 16 counts against him, per the Associated Press. He was acquitted of four counts of civil rights violations.

Allegedly, they chose the children to perform labor because of their race.

The couple adopted the kids from a shelter for vulnerable and homeless youths, NBC News reported. They allegedly chose the children to perform labor specifically because of their race. In 2018, Whitefeather and Lantz moved their children to a farm in Washington before relocating to West Virginia in 2023, per the AP.

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The eldest daughter detailed the horrible conditions and treatment.

The couple’s eldest adoptive daughter, 18, testified against them during the trial. She said she and her siblings were forced to perform manual labor on their farm, including gardening, digging holes for trees, clearing land, caring for animals, and more, the AP reported.

Lantz and Whitefeather’s kids were forced to stand in their rooms for hours “to prevent us from falling asleep,” the daughter alleged. The kids were pepper sprayed when they disobeyed. Lantz also hit one of the boys on the head with a pipe as a punishment.

Furthermore, the daughter testified that Whitefeather and Lantz cursed at the children “all the time” and that Whitefeather used racist language. The kids ate mostly peanut butter sandwiches and did not bathe or brush their teeth for extended periods of time. She and her brother also slept on the floor and used a bucket as a bathroom.

Whitefeather and Lantz were first arrested in 2023.

In October 2023, Whitefeather and Lantz were arrested after neighbors saw Lantz lock their eldest daughter and her brother in a barn and leave the property. A deputy who responded used a crowbar to free the teenagers and discovered a 9-year-old girl crying and alone inside the home.

Lantz and Whitefeather were arrested again in June 2024, when they were charged with crimes related to their recent convictions.

They will be sentenced in March.

Sentencing for Whitefeather and Lantz is scheduled for March 19. They face up to 215 and 75 years in prison, respectively.

“The most important aspect of all of this are the children involved. To be able to bring a just result to them is really something that is hard to put into words,” Kanawha County Prosecutor Debra Rusnak said, per WCHS. “We are very grateful for the outcome we got today.”