A white couple from West Virginia was sentenced this week to life in prison for the abuse of their Black adopted child, whom they allegedly made perform heavy labor like “slaves,” as reported by PEOPLE. 

Donald Lantz, 62, received a sentence of 160 years after being found guilty of forced labor, human trafficking, and child abuse and neglect, as reported by the New York Times. His wife, Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 63, was sentenced to 215 years after being convicted of the same offenses, along with violating her children’s civil rights. The couple was found guilty in January.

“You brought these children to West Virginia, a place that I know is ‘almost heaven,’ and you put them in hell,” Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers said during sentencing, per WCHS. “This court will now put you in yours. And may God have mercy on your souls, because this court will not.”

Couple Taken into Custody

The couple adopted five children in 2018 and later relocated to Kanawha County in May 2023, according to prosecutors. They were arrested in October 2023 after a neighbor alerted Child Protective Services, claiming that two teenagers, ages 14 and 16, were locked in a shed at the couple’s home in Sissonville, based on court documents obtained by WCHS-TV. Additional neighbors also reported that the children were “forced to perform farm labor and were not permitted inside the residence,” per the documents.

When deputies arrived at the residence, they discovered the children living in a shed that contained only a portable toilet and lacked running water, as stated in an indictment referenced by West Virginia MetroNews. The children were dressed in filthy clothes, and the oldest boy had what looked like sores on his feet, according to AP News. During the trial, the oldest daughter testified that the children were frequently cursed at, and some were forced to stand in their rooms for hours with their hands on their heads, according to the AP.

#Clique, what are your thoughts?