CHARLESTON, W.Va. –A bill aimed at creating child safety measures for children who move to West Virginia from out of state and are newly homeschooled is making its way through the Legislature to ensure they don’t fall through the cracks of abuse-prevention systems.
House Bill 5204 was introduced earlier this month by Kanawha County Delegate Hollis Lewis. The measure would create the Child Captivity Prevention Act, establishing a process for families who relocate to the Mountain State and apply for lawful home instruction instead of enrolling their children in public or private school.
It would then require parents to notify the West Virginia Department of Human Services that they have relocated to the state and intend to homeschool their children.
“DHS will be that touchpoint just to say hey, just let us come, if you’re choosing to do homeschool, we just want to make note of it, possibly do a home visit, and just make note of it,” Lewis said recently on 580 Live with Dave Allen. “It’s not meant to be punitive, it’s not meant to inhibit your school choice, however you want to educate your kids.”
Lewis said he introduced the bill following a case in Sissonville involving adoptive parents Jeanne Kay Whitefeather and Donald Ray Lantz.
The couple was found guilty on 31 of 35 combined charges, including child abuse and neglect, forced labor and human trafficking. Whitefeather was also convicted of four counts of violating civil rights following an 11-day trial in January 2025. Both received the maximum sentence from Maryclaire Akers.
This came after their two oldest adopted children were found locked in a shed in October 2023, several months after the family moved to the state from Washington in May of that year.
Lewis said they can’t let this happen again.
“We cannot allow that, that’s just something that cannot be allowed and what’s troubling is that we should be talking more about this, it seems like we’ve talked a lot about this, but it seems like it’s one of those issues that we can talk about for days that we cannot do this,” he said.
Lewis said right now the bill is sitting in the House Judiciary Committee. He said he’s had other lawmakers tell him they would take a look at it, which is something that he wants to happen.
He emphasized that the bill is not affiliated with any political party and is instead focused on protecting children who come to the state and safeguarding West Virginia as a whole.
“This is not partisan, this isn’t liberal, this isn’t conservative, this is about protecting our children and also this is about protecting the reputation of West Virginia, we don’t want to be viewed as a state where we’re open to this sort of activity in any capacity, so we need to stop it before it starts,” Lewis said.
The bill outlines that if DHS conducts a home visit, it may include a brief, age-appropriate private conversation with the child, with parental consent. If a DHS worker suspects neglect, abuse, or an imminent risk of harm, an appropriate investigation would be launched.
Lewis said he does not want anyone to believe they can bring children into West Virginia, abuse them, and get away with it.
“We don’t West Virginia to be a haven for these sort of activities, whether slavery or human traffic, however you want to phase it,” he said.