Black siblings locked up as ‘slaves’ by adoptive parents finally get justice served with $4 million
“An opportunity to be children”
Five Black siblings spent years being abused by the adoptive parents who were supposed to care for them. The couple is now behind bars, but the children’s fight for justice did not end there.
Other people were supposed to protect them, too. Neighbors reportedly warned authorities about what was happening, yet the children remained in the home. It is not the first time warnings about alleged child abuse failed to bring help soon enough.
According to Atlanta Black Star, the five siblings have now reached a $4.4 million settlement with West Virginia. Their lawsuit accused the state’s Department of Human Services of failing to protect them while they lived with Jeanne Kay Whitefeather and Donald Lantz.
There was more beneath the surface
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers approved the settlement last week. The state will divide the maximum available award among the five siblings, who were between six and 16 years old while living with the couple.
Their attorney, Dante DiTrapano, said the money could finally give the siblings some of what they lost. “The settlement means that these kids will have an opportunity to be children,” he said.
He added that they were “robbed of their innocence and robbed of their youth by the monsters that were their former parents.” Some of the siblings reportedly continue to experience post-traumatic stress disorder because of what they endured.
The lawsuit also put the response from Child Protective Services under scrutiny. State records reportedly contained notes about the children living in “slave-like conditions.” However, the Department of Human Services could not produce documentation showing that CPS had meaningful contact with them.
That was despite people outside the home allegedly trying to get authorities involved. DiTrapano said neighbors made numerous calls about the children, but he believes officials did not respond as often as they should have.
“There were a ton of calls that came in from neighbors, and I think only one visit out there,” he said. “There should have been many more.”
Evidence presented during Whitefeather and Lantz’s criminal trial also showed that CPS left a card at their home. The agency eventually interviewed the children, but DiTrapano said their adoptive parents were close enough to hear the conversation.
State officials later said at least one Department of Human Services employee involved in the case was fired. The children were eventually removed after a neighbor allegedly saw two teenagers confined inside a shed. Police found a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl inside the structure, which had no electricity or running water.
One teenager told officers they had been locked inside for around 12 hours since their last meal. The siblings reportedly wore dirty clothes and slept directly on the concrete floor without mattresses. The horrific conditions inside the home only became fully clear after authorities stepped in.
Whitefeather and Lantz were later convicted of child neglect, human trafficking, and other charges connected to their treatment of the five children. Akers sentenced Whitefeather to 215 years in prison and Lantz to 160 years. Each was also ordered to pay $280,000 in restitution.
Race was also part of the criminal case. The five adopted siblings are Black, while Whitefeather and Lantz are white. One daughter testified that Whitefeather repeatedly used racial insults against the children, and a jury convicted her of four civil rights violations.
Akers addressed the couple directly during sentencing. “You brought these children to West Virginia, a place that I know as ‘Almost Heaven,’ and you put them in hell,” she said.
The siblings have since gone to new families, but the legal fallout may continue. DiTrapano said he plans to pursue claims against Washington state’s child welfare agency over allegations that officials approved the family’s move to West Virginia despite earlier reports of abuse.
Whitefeather and Lantz are already serving the consequences of what they did. The $4.4 million settlement now puts some responsibility on the system that was supposed to step in before the children had to endure so much.
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