
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995                   TAG: 9505010026
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Medium

NEW ZEALAND PUTS VA. GIRL IN COURT CUSTODY

A girl whose mother sent her into hiding eight years ago and moved with her to New Zealand rather than allow the child's father to see her has been placed under the guardianship of a New Zealand court.

The January ruling by a district judge in Christchurch, New Zealand, is part of a long, fierce battle between Elizabeth Morgan and her former husband, Eric Foretich.

Morgan left the United States in 1990, a year after serving two years in jail for ignoring a court order allowing Foretich to visit their daughter, Hilary. Morgan sent the girl into hiding and claimed Foretich had sexually abused the child. Foretich, a McLean oral surgeon, denies ever harming the child.

In New Zealand, Judge P.D. Mahoney awarded Morgan custody and rebuffed Foretich's efforts to see the child or bring her home.

Foretich said in an interview that the latest court order revokes custody from Morgan.

``She has been stripped of custody, absolutely. And she is trying desperately to get it back,'' he said.

The guardianship order is related to a defamation lawsuit Foretich filed in the United States against ABC-TV over a 1992 television movie that was sympathetic to Morgan, several people familiar with the case said.

Morgan planned to allow her daughter to give a deposition in which the child was prepared to detail the sexual abuse she claims she suffered as a toddler, said sources who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition they not be identified.

Mahoney's order places the child under his direct supervision and blocks the deposition at least until a therapist has determined whether such an inquiry would harm Hilary.

The therapist has not reported back, and the court has taken no further action, sources on both sides said.

Morgan, contacted in New Zealand, said she cannot comment on the order.

``I'm sure the New Zealand courts would, as they always have, consider my daughter's best interest in this matter,'' Morgan said.

New Zealand court officials would not comment on any aspect of the case.

Morgan's husband, Washington federal appeals court Judge Paul Michel, said the New Zealand judge's order does not revoke Morgan's custody.

``He didn't change custody; he invoked his power to order the deposition not to proceed,'' Michel said.

Hilary, who uses the name Ellen Morgan in New Zealand, has lived with her mother and grandmother in Christchurch for six years. Mahoney has not altered the 1990 family court order barring Foretich from seeing the child.

Foretich's New Zealand lawyer, Gerald Winter, said placing a child under guardianship is similar to making her a ward of the court in the United States. It can affect custody if the judge so decides.

by CNB