Charleston, West Virginia — A Sissonville couple arrested and charged with child neglect for allegedly locking their two adopted children in an outdoor shed have each been released on $200,000 bail.
Jean Whitefeather, 61, and Donald Ray Lantz, 63, both of Sissonville, are charged with felony child neglect creating a substantial risk of injury. The couple was taken into custody in early October of last year after a child welfare call from a neighbor who said they saw two teenagers locked in a cabin at a home on Cheyenne Lane.
As first reported by WCHS-TV and according to filings with the Kanawha County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Lantz and Whitefeather were issued cash-only bonds by Marcus Hughes of Chesapeake, Ohio. Hughes is Whitefeather's younger brother.
Under Whitefeather's bail conditions, she will be released to home confinement only. Lantz's bond doesn't include that.
On October 30, Whitefeather appeared for a preliminary hearing before Kanawha County Judge Mary Claire Akers. Judge Akers determined that Whitefeather was a flight risk.
That same month, Whitefeather's defense also denied her request to have her bail reduced from $200,000 to $50,000.
Whitefeather's lawyer, Mark Plant, argued that there was no proper investigation when Whitefeather was arrested.
“This case seems terrible on the surface. But there are two sides to every story,” Plant said.
Assistant Kanawha County Attorney Debra Rusnak said she believes the facts of the case are that the children were in poor living conditions.
“What these children went through was horrifying and despicable,” Rusnak said. “There's no other way to explain it.”
