Donald Ray Lantz and Jeanne Kay Whitefeather are in police custody after the two children were allegedly found locked in a shed in Sissonville, West Virginia, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Deputy HK Burdette responded to a call in the 200 block of Cheyenne Lane in Sissonville shortly after 5:45 p.m. Monday afternoon, the department said. The caller saw the man open the shed, talk to the juveniles and then lock the shed behind him, authorities said.
“Deputies had to force entry into the barn where they located a juvenile male and a juvenile female locked inside a room approximately 20×14 feet in size,” the sheriff’s office reported.
Deputies reported that the detained children did not have access to running water or a functional bathroom in the shed. They were allegedly denied adequate hygienic care and food in a shed that had no windows, no beds, not a single table or chair.
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The two children, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, informed deputies that they had no way to get out of the shed, WSAZ reports.
The 16-year-old girl also told deputies it was a common occurrence for siblings, WVVA reports. She also revealed that she and her brother were given food around 6 o’clock that morning, and then they were locked in the room until the authorities arrived, the paper reports.
Another juvenile was in the main house, according to the criminal complaint obtained by WSAZ.
“I watched a small child through the window, about 5 to 6 years old, sitting alone on the attic floor. I watched the child cry and fall about 15 feet from the attic near the fence. Due to the serious condition of the child and the risk of the child falling, a forced entry was made to secure the child,” the criminal complaint states, reports WZAS News.
When deputies arrived, there were no janitors or custodians at the scene, the sheriff’s office said. However, adoptive parents Lantz (63) and Whitefeather (61) then arrived at the home between 8:30 and 9:45 p.m.
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Whitefeather allegedly confirmed to deputies that the children were left in the shed and said they “loved it,” WVVA reports.
Lantz and Whitefeather were arrested on charges of aggravated neglect of a child creating a substantial risk of injury, authorities said. Bonds for Lantz and Whitefeather were set at $200,000 cash. A preliminary hearing date for the couple is set for Oct. 12, WSAZ reports.
A spokesperson for the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional information on Tuesday.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact Detective RS Alford or Lt. AC Pile at the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, 304-357-0556, or submit a tip to kanawhasheriff.us.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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Source: HIS Education