Father Cleared of Felony Child Stealing

Ronald Whitelaw, 38, whose flight with his two daughters seven years ago spurred his former wife to campaign on national television for their return, was acquitted Monday of child-stealing.

The 12-0 verdict was reached by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury in San Fernando.

The children, Alisa and Kristin, then 6 and 3 years old, had been released to their father on a routine weekend visit in April, 1978, four months after their mother, Faith Canutt, won custody. They were never returned to their mother’s Valencia home.

Canutt, 36, became active in the then-embryonic movement to find missing children. She appeared on television programs, testified before congressional committees and took part in a group called Child Find, lobbying for tougher penalties for convicted child stealers.

Known to residents of Lebanon, Ore., a small townsouth of Portland, as Ron and Sandy Johnson, Whitelaw and his second wife were regarded as typical, loving parents.

In August, however, Whitelaw was turned in by a school bus driver who saw the girls’ pictures on a TV program about missing children. The children were returned to Canutt, who is believed staying with them in Florida.

Whitlaw, 38, said he would seek permanent custody.