Two West Virginia parents are awaiting trial on more than a dozen charges after adopting four Black children and allegedly employing them as “forced labor” on their farm.
The 17-count indictment charges Jeanne Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, both White, with human trafficking of children, civil rights violations, the use of a minor child in forced labor, and child maltreatment.
Madison Tuck, assistant prosecuting attorney for Kanawha County, West Virginia, told CNN Wednesday that the trial will begin on September 9.
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Tuck stated that the children are “all safe” but declined to provide any information on their location.
Lantz and Whitefeather pleaded not guilty during their June 11 arraignment.
Mark Plants, an attorney for Whitefeather, told CNN on Thursday that his client “absolutely, emphatically (denies) the allegations.”
“We’re talking about two parents who adopted five Black children and have cared for them for the past eight years, and this is going to come out at trial. We’ll let the jury decide at the end of the day. But we totally and unequivocally dispute the charges.”
Lantz’s attorney did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
During the arraignment, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers stated, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an indictment like this in all of my time.”
Akers cited the indictment, claiming the youngsters were “targeted because of their race” and used “as basically slaves.”
CNN received court documents about the case, which began in October 2023 when Kanawha County Sheriff’s officials responded to a 911 call expressing concern for the children.
CNN requested a copy of the 911 call, but officials refused to disclose it.
According to a sworn declaration from the deputy who attended to the 911 call, the youngsters were “forced to do farm work” and “not permitted to enter the house.”
According to a sheriff’s office news release, “deputies had to force entry into the barn where they located a juvenile male and juvenile female locked inside an approximate 20×14 foot room.”
“The children had no means to exit the barn on their own, no running water, no bathroom facilities, and were obviously deprived of adequate hygienic care and food,” according to the news release.
According to the deputy’s sworn declaration, “the female juvenile also stated that she and her 14-year-old brother were not allowed inside the house.”
“There were no accessible windows in the room, nor was there an exit for the youngsters. “If there was a medical emergency or a fire, the children would be unable to escape the locked room to safety,” the statement claimed.
When Whitefeather and Lantz arrived hours later, the deputy reported, “Ms. Whitefeather admitted to Det. Alford that the children were left in the shed but stated they ‘like it.'”
According to an affidavit from a sheriff’s lieutenant, the police encounter in October 2023 was preceded by two earlier 911 calls concerned about the children’s well-being.
According to the affidavit, both callers in May and June 2023 informed dispatchers that the youngsters who lived there were “sleeping in the barn” and using a portable toilet outside.
Both times, Whitefeather and Lantz told responding deputies that they had just moved to the location from Washington State and were using the portable toilet due to plumbing problems in their new home, according to the statement.
“Ms. Whitefeather told the deputies that people in the area don’t like them, and vehicles had been stopping on the roadway in front of their residence,” the lieutenant wrote of the interaction in June 2023. “This call was cleared with ‘no police action necessary.'”
In May, a grand jury returned an indictment against Whitefeather and Lantz, alleging, among other things, that the couple “knowingly, feloniously, and willfully trafficked a minor,” and “did recruit, entice, and obtain the victim of the offense from a shelter and facility that serves runaway youths, children in foster care, the homeless, and victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault.”
According to the arraignment order, the two are each being held on $500,000 “cash-only” bonds CNN stated.