A couple arrested after some of their adopted children were found locked in a shed at their West Virginia home are set for trial later this year on charges that a judge said involved their use as “slaves.”

Donald Ray Lantz and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather face trial later this year after they were arraigned on 16 counts. All but one of the counts are felonies. Lantz and Whitefeather are white. Four children whose initials are in the indictment are Black.

The indictment said Lantz and Whitefeather forced, threatened and interfered with “the free exercise and enjoyment of any right and privilege” of the four children.

Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Madison Tuck said Wednesday that while she couldn’t answer questions about specific details, “I would just say that because the indictment includes a civil rights violation, that there’s definitely a racial element to the case.”

The couple’s trial is set for Sept. 9. They remain held at the South Central Regional Jail.
#racism #blackbabies #growingupblack

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