r/ForCuriousSouls

A West Virginia couple who adopted five children were sentenced to decades in prison on Wednesday after they were convicted of abusing some of them by locking them in a shed and forcing them to perform heavy labor, prosecutors said. The couple, Jeanne Whitefeather, 63, and Donald Lantz, 62, of Sissonville, W.Va., were found guilty by a jury in January of human trafficking of a minor child, use of a minor in forced labor, gross child neglect and child abuse by a parent causing bodily injury. Ms. Whitefeather was also convicted of a civil rights violation. Prosecutors said she had used racially derogatory language to describe the children, who are Black. She and Mr. Lantz are white, prosecutors said. Ms. Whitefeather was sentenced to up to 215 years in prison and will be eligible for parole in 49 years, prosecutors said. Mr. Lantz was sentenced to up to 160 years and will be eligible for parole in 36 years.

Judge Maryclaire Akers of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Kanawha County, W.Va., said that the couple moved to West Virginia in 2023, hoping to find a place isolated enough where they could abuse their children. What they found instead was a “state of people who will not tolerate the abuse of children of any race,” Judge Akers said.

“You brought these children to West Virginia, a place that I know is ‘almost heaven,’ and you put them in hell,” she told the couple, according to video of the sentencing posted online by WCHS, a local television station. “This court will now put you in yours. And may God have mercy on your souls, because this court will not.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/us/west-virginia-couple-children-abuse-sentence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5k4.YJip.ggEQLLsnZuUS&smid=url-share

A 53-year-old man who gave his child up for adoption when she was an infant was arrested in Florida earlier this month after he met his biological daughter for the first time in decades and allegedly drugged and raped her in a hotel room

Ronald Tobin Antinore was taken into custody on May 1 — nearly two years after the alleged sexual assault — and charged with one count each of felony sexual battery, incest, and possession of drug paraphernalia, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. According to a probable cause affidavit from the Clearwater Police Department, the victim had been given up for adoption as an infant. Decades later, she learned the identity of her biological father and connected with him on social media platforms. She then traveled to Florida to meet him. Police did not say where the victim traveled from to meet with Antinore

During their time together, Antinore and the victim allegedly "consumed alcoholic beverages throughout the day."

Afterward, they allegedly returned to a hotel room that Antinore had "secured" for his biological daughter at the Clarion Inn & Suites Central ln the 20000 block of US 19 North.

While Antinore and the victim were in the room, they both ingested LSD, which is when Antinore allegedly forced himself on his biological daughter, police said.

The victim told police that as the effects of the acid began to wear off, she could flee from the bed and lock herself in the bathroom, where she called her boyfriend and told him what allegedly happened. Her boyfriend then phoned the hotel and the police department, relaying the victim's story and requesting immediate assistance be sent to the room. When a private security guard arrived at the room a short while later and made contact with Antinore, he "became alarmed and fled the area," police wrote.

Investigators said that after Antinore was arrested and read his Miranda rights, he made "incriminating statements as to what had taken place between himself and the victim" on the day in question. Antinore touts himself as a "professional wrestling manager" and a "bar consultant." Antinore is currently being held in the Pinellas County Jail on bonds totaling $302,150.

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/man-drugged-and-raped-his-biological-daughter-during-first-meet-since-her-adoption-police/

Peter Frederiksen, a Danish gun shop owner living in Bloemfontein, South Africa, was arrested in September 2015 after police raided his home and found 21 labeled packages of surgically removed female genitalia in his freezer, kept as trophies. He was later sentenced to life in prison for multiple violent crime.

Peter Frederiksen was convicted of 36 charges, including the conspiracy to murder his wife and the rape of a minor, and was sentenced to two life terms in March 2018.

Police raided his Bloemfontein, South Africa home in September 2015 and discovered 21 labeled packages of surgically removed female genitalia in his freezer.

While the gruesome freezer discovery initially shocked the public, charges directly related to the removal of human tissue were ultimately dropped due to a legal loophole regarding specific penalties under the National Health Act. However, he was found guilty on 36 other counts, including child pornography production, rape, and orchestrating the assassination of his wife, Anna Matseliso Molise, who was the state's main witness.

Frederiksen served his sentence at the Mangaung Correctional Centre and died in prison in September 2024.

‎In 2007, Chinese authorities banned organ trafficking and have introduced a voluntary donor scheme to try to combat the trade.

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‎In 2011, 17-year-old, only identified by his surname Wang, told a local TV station he had arranged the sale of the kidney over the internet. When he saw an online advert offering money to organ donors. The case was discovered when he became seriously sick from the infection.  and his mother noticed the new gadgets; when asked where he got the money, he admitted selling a kidney.

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‎The group behind the operation have. Illegal agents organised a trip to the hospital and paid him $3,392 (£2,077) after the operation. He now suffering from "renal insufficiency" — a decreased level of kidney function — and that his condition is deteriorating.

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‎The five charged included the surgeon, as well as the broker, who was reportedly penniless and hounded by gambling debts. Another of those charged was tasked with hunting for donors through online chat rooms, and another with leasing the operating room. Together, they shared the rest of the $35,000 received for the organ after giving Wang his share.

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‎https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-17640209

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‎https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13639934

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‎https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/04/07/150195037/chinese-teen-sells-kidney-for-ipad-and-iphone

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Renesmay was found dead in the Youghiogheny River. She was nine years old and from Fayette Pennsylvania. My first thought was she was named after the child in Twilight. I hope this little girl rest in peace.

Renesmay's foster parents are arrested and may get the death penalty.

He buried Shanann in a shallow grave near an oil-storage facility, and dumped his children's bodies into crude oil tanks. Chris initially maintained his innocence in his family's disappearance, but was arrested on August 15, after confessing in an interview with detectives to murdering Shanann. He later admitted to murdering his children.

Loader reportedly told Walpole to “stay in the kitchen making scones.” Walpole had consumed between 23 and 35 drinks and cocaine that night.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/australian-woman-sets-friend-on-fire-after-he-asked-her-to-stay-in-the-kitchen-8470340/amp/1

https://people.com/misogynistic-remark-doused-gasoline-light-fire-convicted-11740573

About a year and a half ago, I (M32) moved cross-country for a new, sedentary office job after years in a relatively active role. The stress of the move, long hours (often 6 days a week), free lunches, stocked office pantry, quitting exercise, some personal family issues, and living on fast food and beer led to 143 pounds gained in less than a year and a half (175lbs —> 318lbs).

Therefore, the weight itself is clearly my fault; but I became concerned when I realized how extremely centralized and spherically it all was gathering on my gut. After multiple doctors and every test available, they found no underlying illness. They concluded I have an unusually rare, extreme genetic predisposition to store almost all excess weight as concentrated abdominal fat, existing on the farthest outlier end of that spectrum.

Men already have a natural tendency to put on more visceral fat (the firm, deeper kind that makes a “beer belly”), only exacerbated by a rapid gain. For someone with my genetics, combined with how insanely fast the weight piled on, it left me with a belly measuring 73-inches in circumference… on a 5’10” frame whose limbs and overall structure stayed mostly the same.

My specific genetics and this rapid central gain also then triggered a natural yet unexpected hormonal shift. This amount of new fat drove high ‘aromatase activity‘ in my fat cells… basically, my own fat started converting my testosterone into estrogen, but to the extreme from the sheer speed and volume. Testosterone tanked, estrogen skyrocketed, and this body shape became even more pronounced. My prolactin also rose significantly (the hormone involved in lactation and breast growth), leptin signaling changed, and my cortisol spiked. The result has been a more targeted, “feminized” weight concentration, including glandular gynecomastia… my chest is now roughly G-cup equivalent, adding both weight and sensitivity that make shirts tighter and increase back and shoulder strain.

Though this all objectively & medically “checks out” when considering the specific “perfect storm” of lifestyle, genetic, and medical factors - it is still extremely unusual and even hard for my doctors to wrap their heads around. They’ve never seen anything quite like this, saying my genetic tendency being so extreme is notable enough, let alone the natural hormonal changes that have followed… as if my endocrine system was triggered to abet morphing my body into an unavoidable comparison of an overdue, high-order multiples pregnancy.

For lack of a better visual and metric comparison, they’ve tracked my growth using high-order pregnancy measurement comparisons. Right now, I compare to “overdue with septuplets or octuplets,” a size nearly unfathomable, even for real pregnancies, and would require mandatory bed rest. And something peculiar that makes this all more fascinating (and will make my weight loss much more difficult): my doctors have seen that my body has effectively begun latching onto this hormonal profile and body composition as a new stasis… meaning, it naturally now defaults to this size and body shape. Even trying some medications to target fixing the level of one specific hormone, the others then accelerate into overdrive to compensate.

The physical realities are rough: constant shortness of breath, labored breathing, chronic sweating and flushed face, awful lower back pain, waddling gait, drastically altered center of gravity… my belly sways and bounces like a yoga ball with every step or movement; but when I pause or sit, it then presses like a living weight in my lap, pushing my legs apart or causing discomfort. Increased and regular indigestion/burping/flatulence that I can’t really control. Tight pressure and sensitivity on my stretched navel with visible skin veining and stretch marks on my belly.

There are no off-the-rack shirts that fit me properly. Most Big & Tall stores only go up to 60-64” waists and 5XL shirts designed for 60-65” bellies, at most… and more importantly, their cuts assume evenly distributed weight rather than extreme forward projection. My belly still pulls the fabric tight, while the arms and chest are very loose. I’ve grown so fast that I’ve been constantly playing catch-up on sizing, and at this point, I’ve resigned to wearing the largest options I own, which still don’t cover me appropriately. I’ve contacted plus size men’s lines, custom tailoring companies for men, and even (in moments of true desperation) high-order multiples maternity & supportwear brands, and all have turned me away without any viable solutions. I’m required to wear formal button-downs at the office, and haven’t been able to convince my boss to allow alternative choices for me, instead.

Mobility with a belly this large and round on an otherwise smaller frame is most difficult. Simple tasks like tying my shoes, standing up from a chair, fitting in restaurant booths, driving (where it presses hard against the steering wheel), navigating airplane aisles or seats, and using standard bathroom stalls have all become major challenges. Even at my office desk, my belly creates constant clearance problems, forcing me to sit farther back and hunch over it for short stints, and causing overheating during long workdays. At night, sleeping is tough. The size and weight make comfortable positions difficult, I frequently wake up short of breath, and always need to lay on my side and put a pillow between my legs.

Embarrassingly enough, I can no longer even reach my own manhood around my belly. It’s not that I’ve gained too much weight around my groin to easily access it; but that the projection and circumference of my belly alone prevents my arms from being able to properly reach around it. This has created major practical issues, aside from the obvious… I can’t use urinals anymore because I have to stand too far back and cannot reach to unbutton my pants or aim while standing. I now always have to use bathroom stalls where I can sit and lean back to manage. This has been tough to grapple with psychologically, more than anything. My own belly has physically severed my agency over, what it feels like to me, one of the last, clear symbols of my former masculinity.

This insurmountable barrier between me and my manhood is only made more frustrating and surreal by one final and unavoidable consequence of the proportion size and forward projection of my belly: near-constant, physical contact between the underside of my belly and my groin. When simply sitting, standing from a chair, leaning forward, walking, climbing stairs, or even just shifting position, this heavy mass presses onto, shifts, bounces/jiggles upon, and moves against that area for long periods. Because I can no longer reach myself around the belly for any kind of adjustment or relief, that ongoing contact often produces repeated unintended physical stimulation. It is simply a mechanical result that I can’t currently avoid with these new proportions, but it adds a final layer of extreme, latent emotional and physical annoyance.

Craziest of all, though, is how strangers react. I never imagined how bold people could be when seeing someone who looks abnormal to what they’re used to… but, nearly daily, I catch some comments and jokes from people or someone curiously engages me with questions. People stare, giggle, try to discreetly take pictures or photos when I’m just walking down the street… make comments like “When are the quadruplets due?” or “Is that a beer gut or are you pregnant?” Some are curious, but many are crass. A few have even followed me in cars filming and yelling insults, like, “Get out of here, fatass! Lay off the burgers!” or “Jesus Mama, you’re huge! Use protection next time!”

Medically, we are still in careful observation mode. My doctors have now been extremely cautious about any hormonal interventions because, as previously mentioned, attempts to correct one level have caused the others to compensate aggressively. Medications in the GLP-1 class are not something they are willing to start while my belly is still this large and the endocrine picture is still unstable; they would only consider them later, after a substantial amount of the abdominal weight has already come off through other means.

For now, the plan is straightforward and entirely on me… a diet structured to work against visceral fat storage and the current hormonal environment, combined with whatever physical movement is currently possible for me… meaning, slow walking and very basic cardio, since most standard exercises are simply not feasible with these proportions. Progress will be gradual and determined more by consistency than by any pharmaceutical shortcut.

I’m posting this as I’m sure some people on here may find this (probably morbidly) fascinating, and feel free to ask anything. Also posting to document where things actually stand right now, because the combination of the size, the hormonal latch, and the daily physical realities still feels surreal even to me. If anyone has dealt with or seen anything remotely comparable… I’d genuinely be interested to hear how you navigated it. Thank you for reading if you made it this far!