CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A couple who was arrested and charged with child neglect for allegedly keeping two of their adoptive children locked outside in a shed in Sissonville have posted bond at $200,000 each.
Jeanne Whitefeather, 61, and Donald Ray Lantz, 63, both of Sissonville, are charged with felony gross gross child neglect creating a substantial risk of injury. The couple was taken into custody in early October of last year after a neighbor made a child welfare call and said they saw two teenagers locked in a shed at a home on Cheyenne Lane.
As first reported by WCHS-TV and according to a filing in the Kanawha County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Lantz and Whitefeather had their cash-only bonds posted by Marcus Hughes of Chesapeake, OH. Hughes is Whitefeather’s brother.
Whitefeather’s bond conditions do allow her to only be released to home confinement. Lantz’s bond does not include that.
On Oct. 30, Whitefeather appeared for a preliminary hearing before Kanawha County Judge Maryclaire Akers. Judge Akers had determined Whitefeather was a flight risk.
In that same month, defense for Whitefeather also had her request to have bond lowered from $200,000 to $50,000 denied.
Whitefeather’s attorney, Mark Plants argued there was not a proper investigation had when Whitefeather was arrested.
“This case, on its face, sounds atrocious. However, there are two sides to every story,” Plants said.
Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Debra Rusnak said she believes the facts of the case are that the children were in poor living conditions.
“What these children were going through was horrifying and despicable,” Rusnak said. “There’s no other way to describe it.”