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Fri, 21 Mar 2025 20:38:49 -0700
zerosugar from private IP, post #17874633
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White couple who forced adopted black children to work as ‘slaves’ sentenced
to hundreds of years in prison
A white couple from West Virginia were collectively sentenced to 375 years in
prison for forcing their five adopted black children to work on their farm as
“slaves” while being berated with racial slurs.
Jeanne Kay Whitefeather received up to 215 years in prison and her husband,
Donald Lantz, will serve up to 160 years — the maximum sentence — after the
pair were convicted of forced labor, human trafficking and child abuse and
neglect in January.
“You brought these children to West Virginia, a place that I know as ‘Almost
Heaven,’ and you put them in hell. This court will now put you in yours,”
Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers barked at the defendants on Wednesday.
“And may God have mercy on your souls. Because this court will not.”
The four oldest children penned emotional letters to their adoptive parents,
which were read aloud in the courtroom. The children said in the letters that
they have endured life-changing trauma that’s left them scarred with trust
issues and nightmares.
“I’ll never understand how you can sleep at night. I want you to know that
you are a monster,” the eldest daughter, now 18, told the court.
Last month, the 18-year-old sued the couple, alleging severe physical and
emotional abuse and neglect that has scarred her permanently.
The couple adopted the five black siblings in Minnesota, then moved to a farm in
Washington state in 2018 before picking up and moving to Sissonville, West
Virginia, in May 2023, when the children were between 5 and 16 years old.
Whitefeather and Lantz were arrested months later in October 2023 after a child
welfare call led to the discovery of two teenagers — the eldest daughter and
her teenage brother — locked in a shed at the couple’s home.
When police pried open the barn door with a crowbar, they found a porta potty
but no lights or running water. One of the teens told police they had been
locked in the barn and not fed for 12 hours.
The siblings said the couple forced them to sleep on the concrete floor without
any mattresses. They both wore dirty clothes and had body odor, police noted,
according to the filing.
Inside the main residence, a 9-year-old girl was found crying in a loft alone.
Three hours later, Lantz arrived with an 11-year-old boy. Whitefeather soon
followed with a 5-year-old girl.
All five were turned over to Child Protective Services after the couple’s
arrests.
Akers said last year after they were indicted “these children were targeted
because of their race, and they were used basically as slaves.”
During the trial, neighbors testified that they never saw the children playing
but did witness them standing in line or performing hard labor. Once Lantz
noticed his curious neighbors, he kept the children mostly inside, prosecutors
said.
The eldest daughter testified that most of the outdoor work took place at the
family’s Washington residence, where some of them were forced to use their
hands to dig.
She also said the children were verbally abused “all the time” and that
Whitefeather used racist language.
They were fed mostly peanut butter sandwiches at scheduled times, and some
children were forced to stand in their rooms for hours with their hands on their
heads.
The two oldest children were forced to sleep on the floor in their shared room
and used the same bucket for the bathroom while the other held up a sheet for
privacy from the home’s security cameras, according to testimony.
The couple’s defense attorneys argued that they were overwhelmed after taking
in the children, who were already suffering from the abuse of their biological
parents.
Whitefeather’s attorney, Mark Plants, said during closing arguments that the
couple’s only crime was bad parenting.
“These are farm people that do farm chores,” Plants said. “It wasn’t
about race. It wasn’t about forced labor.”
https://nypost.com/2025/03/21/us-news/white-couple-who-forced-black-children-to-work-as-slaves-sentenced-to-hundreds-of-years-in-prison/
#News
Fri, 21 Mar 2025 21:10:29 -0700
marlon from private IP
Reply #19605621 seems mixed race adoptions are
bad. Where are the social workers?
Fri, 21 Mar 2025 21:28:54 -0700
zerosugar from private IP
Reply #14876401 @marlonTest
adoption in general seems problematic and while abortion is definitely a
contentious issue, i think its sad that adoption is not discussed with the same
anger. children deserve to know who their biological parents are and its so sad
that years ago women (oftentimes teenagers) were forced to have kids and then
give them up for adoption. in more modern times, a good example is what happened
on the mtv show teen mom with catelynn. she was so young at the time and thought
she was getting into an open adoption then the adoptive parents just blocked her
off.
anyway, you may be right on mixed race adoptions. on the flipside, there was
this black woman who won a food network cooking contest and killed the white
daughter she adopted.
https://www.foxcarolina.com/2022/05/09/food-network-star-accused-beating-foster-daughter-death-goes-trial/
now i taught at a black school and enjoyed my time there more than the white
schools. i thought the kids were actually so much kinder and sweeter than the
white kids, but certainly not everybody thinks like me. racism is just a fact of
life.
Fri, 21 Mar 2025 21:32:32 -0700
zerosugar from private IP
Reply #19987549 @marlonTest also
social workers fail. there was a sad sad case here in illinois where it was the
bio parents who murdered the child.
i cannot even read about it anymore as it was so so disturbing.
https://www.kelleykronenberg.com/blog/the-tragic-story-of-aj-freund-how-dcfs-failed-to-protect-a-child-from-abuse-and-neglect/
the social worker actually received a jail sentence for failing to protect the
child.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/former-dcfs-worker-sentenced-aj-freund/
Fri, 21 Mar 2025 21:36:48 -0700
zerosugar from private IP
Reply #14103241 https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.19961.html
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 11:07:26 -0700
whiteguyinchina from private IP
Reply #14274587 That's messed up
But i bet not the only story like that out thee
My great grandfather was taken from an orphanage and put to work on a farm as
well
Tho this was 1890s
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 14:47:02 -0700
marlon from private IP
Reply #11138125 being raised by catholic nuns
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 17:27:27 -0700
zerosugar from private IP
Reply #11508746 @whiteguyinchinaTest thats a very interesting history and sad. maybe you
should do 23andme to see if there are any long lost relatives of your great
grandfather out there.
adoptions were so unrestricted years ago, maybe even more so abroad than here in
the usa. that movie the magdalene sisters was absolutely haunted of those unwed
pregnant girls forced to do labor for the nuns in ireland and basically forced
to give the babies for adoption. in italy years ago, many women were raped too
and forced to carry out the pregnancies as no access to abortions and then who
knows who they adopted out the kids to? i am happy 23andme and other dna
websites allow people to discover long lost relatives. 23andme is the best
though because it gives the haplogroups and health information which can be
especially useful.
when i saw the story of this woman who was adopted by american parents illegally
from greece on tv several months back, i cried. she runs this website now.
https://www.theeftychiaproject.org/new-articles-stories-press-releases/testimony-of-greek-adoptee-at-united-nations-in-geneva-switzerland-on-first-anniversary-of-un-joint-statement-on-illegal-intercountry-adoption
these children were stripped of their identities and so much.
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 17:30:22 -0700
zerosugar from private IP
Reply #14298216 also about the kids in the
original story in west virginia, at least they are still alive. i know they are
scarred for life, but some childreb aren't so lucky to make it out of an abusive
situation alive like that little boy from illinois.
enough of these sad stories though, i think the story about the ukranian woman
who pretended to be a child is scary, but can also be sort of funny.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/04/natalia-grace-docuseries-hbo-discovery-ukrainian-orphan-con-artist
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 17:47:40 -0700
zerosugar from private IP
Reply #18780882 i think children need to stay
with their biological parents as long as they are not abusive. if the parents
are not fit or are too young to be parents then relatives like grandparents or
aunts and uncles should take them. most people have relatives out there. its sad
when there are families who will not step up. every effort should be made to
place the child with a biological relative.
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