White couple accused of forcing adopted black children to work as slaves and live in a barn

The five children were discovered locked in a dilapidated shed after allegedly being forced to work on adjacent farmland. The judge presiding over the case said the couple targeted the children because of their race and “essentially used them as slaves.”

The couple’s new charges include human trafficking of a minor child, use of a minor child in forced labor and child neglect creating a substantial risk of serious bodily harm or death.

Their bonds were increased to $500,000 each.

According to the couple’s arrest file from October 2023, the 16- and 14-year-old children were locked in the 8×14 shed, which had no lights, running water or food. A camera was mounted in the left corner of the cramped space.

Furthermore, the shed could not be opened from the inside.

A welfare check revealed the children were in poor condition, wearing dirty clothes and had sores on the bottoms of their feet.

Whitefeather, who homeschooled all five children, told authorities the shed was a “teen clubhouse” and claimed the minors were not being held there against their will. She also tried to claim that the children ‘liked’ the shed in which they were found locked.

One of the teens disagreed, telling police she had been locked in the building for 12 hours – and was last fed at 6am.

Three hours after police discovered the older children in the locked room, they discovered a 9-year-old girl locked in an attic in the couple’s $295,000 three-bedroom home.

Lantz came home with the 11-year-old boy and his wife later turned over a 6-year-old girl to authorities, who had been with friends from the couple’s church.

Child Protective Services was called to the scene and the children were turned over to the agency.

Disturbing images taken by police from the inside of the outbuilding revealed a small porta-potty toilet with no running water. The children told authorities they were forced to sleep on the concrete floor.

“If there was a medical emergency or fire, the children would not be able to get out of the enclosed area to safety,” the complaint said.

Court documents revealed that concerned neighbors alerted authorities, claiming the children were forced to do manual labor on the estate’s five acres and not allowed in the couple’s home.

In addition to the couple’s estate in Sissonville, where the children were discovered, they also owned an 80-acre estate in Tonasket, Washington, with a $725,000 home.

The couple sold their second home after their arrest in October.