CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Sissonville couple convicted on 31 of 35 counts of child abuse and neglect, forced labor, and human trafficking charges got the maximum sentence Wednesday.

Sentencing for Jeanne Kay Whitefeather, 63, and Donald Ray Lantz, 62, was held before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers.

Whitefeather was sentenced to 215 years in prison and Lantz 160 years.

Akers said there was no reason to show no mercy to the couple considering all of the vile mistreatment they inflicted upon particularly four of their five adopted Black children.

“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, and may God have mercy on your souls,” Akers told them during Wednesday’s hearing.

Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak said after a long and trying investigation and trial, the couple is getting the sentencing they deserve.

“We are all grateful that the court handed down the sentence that we had all hoped for,” Rusnak said following the sentencing. “It nearly ensures that neither of these defendants will ever breathe free air again.”

Each of Whitefeather and Lantz’ 31 counts will run consecutively. The couple will also have to pay $280,000 each in restitution.

Wednesday’s sentencing came after an 11-day trial that was held in January for the couple when the jury found them guilty on all 31 of 35 charges. Each of the charges reflect the harm inflicted on each of the four children with evidence during the over two week trial showing Whitefeather being the primary abuser.

Whitefeather and Lantz were arrested from their Sissonville home on October 2, 2023 after neighbors called police under the suspicion that two of their teenage children were locked in a shed on the property and were being forced to work.

When police arrived, those suspicions were confirmed as the two oldest of the five children told Kanawha County Sheriffs they had no way of getting out of the shed, leaving officers to eventually have to conduct a forced entry in after never being able to acquire a key.

Upon making their way into the shed, the officer who testified during the 11-day trial said she was immediately hit with a barrier of heat and body odor as if they had been locked in for a while.

In trooper’s search of the shed, they found a non-working air conditioning unit, a sleeping bag, a camping toilet, and a cooler with leftover food wrappings inside. Upon a search of the home, they found a young child crying and left alone in an upstairs loft.

When Whitefeather and Lantz eventually arrived back at the home, officers confiscated Whitefeather’s cell phone which contained much of the evidence used during the trial through multiple hours of text messages between the couple as well as videos and images showing the alleged mistreatment.

The content retrieved off of the phone from the West Virginia Fusion Center dated back from at least 2021 during the family’s time living in Washington up until the couple’s arrest in Sissonville in 2023.

Other evidence used was taken off security cameras the couple had set up in their home and in the shed where the two oldest children were forced to stay.

The shed in Sissonville where two teens, ages 16 and 14, were locked in by their adoptive parents. PHOTO: WVMetronews/Kat Skeldon

The court found that the evidence seemed to tell the story of the children’s’ abuse, from text messages of Whitefeather calling the children racial slurs and demeaning names, to videos showing that they were forced to sleep on concrete floors and tarps and only fed peanut butter sandwiches, sometimes of which they were denied even that.

State prosecuting attorney Madison Tuck reminded the court Wednesday of that telling evidence, and how when Whitefeather and Lantz had testified, they tried to make it out that they were the victims.

“I ask the court to recall that, when faced with the overwhelming evidence of their guilt, the defendants decided to blame the children, all of their actions on the children, including their most vulnerable child,” Tuck said.

The couple claimed they had installed the cameras to particularly keep an eye on their oldest adoptive son who was diagnosed with multiple mental health-related conditions.

Lantz and Whitefeather testified that the boy was violent and dangerous and they needed to protect the family from him, although state prosecutors and medical expert witnesses did not find as much evidence to back up those claims.

Further evidence revealed that the children were hit and beaten, or at least many times threatened to be beaten, and that Whitefeather often sprayed them with bear spray when she felt they were misbehaving.

Evidence also showed that they were controlled when they could use the bathroom, with the two oldest often having to use a camping toilet found in the shed.

Akers said she has been practicing in the legal system for over 25 years now, and from the number of abhorrent things she’s seen, this case is one that’s on the top.

“I have seen week-old babies starved to death by their parents on drug benders, others burned with hair dryers placed on their bare skin, a child drowned and stuffed into a freezer, and unspeakable acts of sexual abuse placed on children, and I say that because I want the defendants to understand that what they did is just as horrific,” Akers said.

Three of the children had their victim impact statements read in court Wednesday by a child advocacy agent. 

“I now know what a home is supposed to feel like and what a family is for, you called yourself mom, but what mom uses weapons on a child they love, what dad allows such things and upholds his wife, or even participates in the evils she caused,” one of the children’s statements read.

The oldest child, who is now 18, read her own victim impact statement. She spoke to Whitefeather directly saying she made her sick to her stomach and told her she was the definition of a monster.

All of the children now live with loving foster families except the second oldest child, who is currently staying in a facility and getting the help he needs with his psychological conditions.

Tuck said she has been so grateful to work with and for these children.

“They are so wonderful, so smart, so funny, they are going to do amazing things in this world and I am so grateful to be a part of getting some semblance of justice for them,” Tuck said.

Rusnak said the resilience shown by the children in this case is outstanding, and so is the work that was done by the people who have sought justice for them.

“My heart goes out to them, and I am grateful that my attorneys and the members of the Kanawha County Sherriff’s Office are dedicated to the pursuit of justice, and dedicated to doing the right thing every time,” Rusnak said.

Whitefeather spoke on her behalf before being handed down her sentence. She said she did not intend to cause them harm.

“I just want the court to know that I have made mistakes and I’m very sorry for that, and I love my children, I’ve never, ever done anything to them to harm them,” Whitefeather said.

She asked that the court provide her a sentence with the possibility of one day getting out, and Lantz asked to be placed on home confinement and be given another trial. All of that was denied.

Akers said that at least some good came out of this situation in that the children made it out.

“The good in this the people that took action in the state of West Virginia, the good in this is that now these children are West Virginia’s children and not your children.”

The minimum time the couple will serve is 36 years in prison for Lantz and 49 years for Whitefeather. At which they will be eligible for parole.