A judge was merciless in the condemnation of two insulting white parents who treated their five adopted black children as 'slaves' by forcing them to sleep on the floor, use buckets as a toilet and even lock them in an outdoor turning.
West Virginia -Paar Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, and her husband Donald Lantz, 63 were arrested for child abuse and neglect on October 2, 2023.
The Saga finally ended on Wednesday when judge Maryclaire Akers announced their fate in a circuit dish.
'You brought these children to West Virginia, a place that I know as almost heaven and you place them in hell. This court will now place you in yours, and may God have grace with your soul, “Akers told the pair dramatically during their conviction.
The parents received the maximum penalties with Whitefeather sentenced to 215 years in prison, with at least 40 years behind bars before they qualify for conditional release.
Lantz was sentenced to 160 years in prison, but must spend at least 30 behind bars before being eligible for conditional release. The couple each was instructed to pay $ 280,000 in refunds to their five children.
The parents were confronted with 31 charges, including human trafficking of a minor, forced labor of a minor, gross child neglect and child abuse that caused damage.
Whitefeather also received four counts of violations of civil rights, because the prosecution argued that she was the primary abuser of the children.
Akers said the court that after 25 years of experience in the legal system, this case was one of the most horrible.
Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 62, was sentenced to 215 years in prison and at least 40 years behind bars before she is eligible for conditional release
Donald Lantz, 63, was sentenced to 160 years in prison with at least 30 behind bars. The couple were also instructed to pay $ 280,000 in refund to their five children
A couple in West Virginia has received the maximum punishment for the abuse that they have inflicted on their five adopted children
“I saw a week old babies starved by their parents on drug bubbles, others burned with hairdryers placed on their bare skin, drowned a child in a freezer, and ineffable acts of sexual abuse placed on children, and I want the defendants to understand what they did, Akers, said Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,”, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,”, “Akers,”, “Akers,” Akers, “Akers,” Akers. Metro news.
Whitefeather and Lantz were found guilty of their crimes in January after a horrible process revealed the disturbing abuse that took place in their house.
The children were first found by authorities locked up in a shed without lights, food or running water, and a camera that she recorded.
Whitefeather claimed that the children were not held against their will and that the barn was used as a 'teenage club house', but discoverers discovered that the children were locked up from the outside.
After the authorities found the three older children in the barn, they discovered a nine -year -old girl locked up in the main building.
The children had body odor and were found with dirty clothes with swears on their feet.
The family had moved before the parents were arrested, after they first adopted the children in Minnesota before moving to Washington in 2018.
They then moved to their house in West Virginia in May 2023, only five months before the authorities arrived and the children were placed in the care of child protection services.
The horrific test revealed the disturbing way in which the couple treated their children, which had to endure for hours of heavy work and lock them in an outer shed without access to food, water or a bathroom
Officers of Justice argued in court that the parents treated their five black children as 'slaves' to force them in horrible work and to subject them to racist comments
Neighbors quickly noticed the disturbing behavior of Whitefeather and Lantz, in which a neighbor testified to the stomach -changing scenes she saw from her house.
Joyce Bailey, witnessed in the trial on January 14, that Lantz let the children carry heavy screens, had buckets dragged water and transported propane tanks around the garden.
Bailey remembered that the children were worked down to the bone and at one point the oldest boy could hardly walk.
Racist SMS messages were also submitted during the process and the oldest child, which is now 18, testified that her adoptive parents let her dig her hands, her peanut butter sandwiches were feeding alone and forced her and her brothers and sisters to use a bucket to go to the bathroom.
She also testified that her parents would not eat from the same plates as the children and called her 'dirty'.
'Do you want to know what racists look like? Look at them, “said assistant officer of Justice Madison Tuck in court.
The children also described the horrible treatment that they ended in the house during Wednesday's hearing.
Brittany Leavitt, a child's savage agent, read victim's impact statements to the court written by three of the five children.
The 18-year-old read her explanation herself and revealed that she believed that Whitefeather was a monster and that her parents' actions made her sick on her belly.
“I don't understand at all how you could treat someone like treating me and my brothers and sisters and then preaching the name of God,” she said.
She added that looking at her younger brothers and sisters tolerated abuse, felt her 'hopeless' and resulted in 'a lot of anger'.
Whitefeather apologized for her crimes in court and told her children that she never intended to harm them intentionally
Lantz told his children in court that he loved them while getting the maximum punishment for human trafficking of a minor, forced labor of a minor, gross childcare and child abuse that causes damage
The youngest brother or sister said in her statement that her was taught to laugh at her brothers and sisters and now understands the abuse she has endured.
“They were mean and children are not allowed to be picked by their parents. They must be loved, “said the letter.
'Hello, I am a little girl … and I work on changing my life. I'll be something great. I will be strong and beautiful. You will always be exactly what you are – terrible, “one of the brothers and sisters wrote in their statements.
Whitefeather and Lantz apologized in court for the abuse they initiated, in which Lantz told his children that he loves them.
“I made mistakes and I'm very sorry,” said Whitefeather. “I love my children and I have never done anything … to deliberately harm them.”
Akers concluded the emotionally incriminating process by the people who intervened to help the children out of the insulting household.
“The good thing is that these children are now the children of West Virginia and not your children,” the judge said.
