Acquittal in Child-Theft Trial Worries Activists

The acquittal of Ronald Whitelaw on a child-stealing charge surprised activists in the movement to find “missing children,” prompting some to worry Tuesday that the verdict may encourage abductions by divorced parents.

“Parents may take the attitude that, ‘Even if we get caught, now there’s a chance we’ll get away with it,’ ” said Carla Branch, communications director for the federally funded National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington.

“It will give hope to people who are awaiting such trials.”

But experts in the field said that evidence peculiar to the Whitelaw case would limit its effect on other child-abduction cases. “It sounds like an unusual set of facts,” said Howard Davidson, director of the child advocacy center of the American Bar Assn. in Washington.

Whitelaw, formerly a wealthy Santa Barbara developer who, in 1978, took his two daughters from his ex-wife’s Valencia home, on Monday was found not guilty of felony child stealing by a San Fernando Superior Court jury after only three hours of deliberation.

Two jurors said in interviews that they believed the prosecution failed to prove that Whitelaw’s motive in taking the children was to deny custody to his former wife, Faith Canutt, despite the fact that he concealed them from authorities for 7 1/2 years before he was discovered living in the rural town of Lebanon, Ore.

Canutt’s credibility was undermined, the jurors said, by testimony of defense witnesses that she reported hearing demonic voices telling her to kill Whitelaw. Canutt denied she made such threats.

Canutt, 36, who is in Florida with her two daughters, was “upset and incredibly disappointed” when told of the verdict, her lawyer, Stephen Kolodny of Los Angeles, said Tuesday. He said Canutt found the verdict “outrageous” coming after “7 1/2 years of chasing him, 7 1/2 years of trying to find the children, finally finding them and then having him exonerated.”

Canutt could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Kolodny said she will defend her present custody rights at a custody hearing in Santa Barbara Superior Court on Dec. 13.

At that time, Whitelaw, 38, also could receive a five-day jail term for contempt of court for violating the custody order.

Will Seek Custody

On Monday, Whitelaw promised to seek custody of his two daughters, Alisa and Kristin, now 14 and 11, saying he was fearful that his ex-wife “might take out her frustrations on the children.” Whitelaw has said he fled with his daughters because he feared Canutt would harm him and the children in retaliation for his efforts to get custody legally.

But Kolodny said Canutt believes her ex-husband won the case “because he found an attorney who outmaneuvered the district attorney.” He said Canutt thought that Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Barshop blundered by not doing more to rebut defense testimony alleging that she made threats after hearing voices.

Canutt was the only witness called to testify for the prosecution. Barshop said Tuesday that he advised Canutt that the case was “very cut and dried” and expected a conviction.

In recent years, Canutt led what friends have described as a relentless campaign to find her missing children. She spent nearly $300,000, appeared on television programs and testified before lawmakers trying to draw attention to her daughters’ disappearance while seeking tougher legislation against people convicted of child stealing.

Judgment Being Appealed

Last year, she won a $1.5-million judgment against Whitelaw, which is being appealed by his attorneys. Observers said it was the first civil damage case involving parental child stealing.

Kolodny said that, in the criminal trial, the testimony alleging that Canutt threatened her ex-husband was “a bizarre twist that got injected into this case and worked.”

“I see what happened yesterday in San Fernando as a precursor of a rash of child-stealing cases,” he said angrily. “They now have someone to use as an example of how to take the law into your own hands.”

The verdict also stirred concern among child-abduction specialists, who noted that cases that go to trial normally result in convictions.

Given Whitelaw’s admission that he fled with the children in violation of a custody agreement, the verdict of acquittal may be unprecedented, according to Carol Stanley, executive director of the Los Angeles-based group Find the Children.

Worried About Effect

“I certainly hope it doesn’t deter parents seeking justice under the California laws,” said Davidson, the American Bar Assn. official.

Several of the experts noted that, although the testimony in the Whitelaw case about demonic voices and death threats was unusual, the general defense--that his flight with his daughters was necessary to protect them--frequently is used by others charged with child abduction.

“No one who does this crime says they’re doing it for revenge or to suit their needs,” said Janet Kosid, who advises law-enforcement agencies for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Canutt had registered her daughters with the organization, which serves as a nationwide clearinghouse for sightings of missing children.

“People who commit this crime justify it,” Kosid said. “They assert the need to protect themselves and the children.”

Kosid questioned the Whitelaw jury’s conclusion that he was not motivated by a desire to end contact between his ex-wife and the children.

“It’s hard to understand how a person who deprived a person of access to her children for seven years can be found not to have intended to deprive her of her rights to custody or visitation,” she said.

Won’t Have Major Effect

“It would require a strong showing of a threat” to justify Whitelaw’s flight, Kosid contended.

Two California prosecutors interviewed Tuesday said the verdict probably would not have any major effect on how they handle such cases.

“It’s not going to change anything that I do,” said Sam McKee, a Sonoma County deputy district attorney who specializes in child-stealing cases. “I would suspect that defense attorneys will continue to emphasize the ‘intent’ defense,” in which the defendant argues that he took the children to protect them, he said.

“The motive is not compassion. Period. It is retribution for the other parent,” McKee said of parental child-abduction cases in general. “The individual’s motive is to get even, to get away, to run away, but it is not care and compassion for those children.”

Harland Braun, Whitelaw’s defense lawyer, said the case illustrated the role of emotion in juries’ deliberations over child-stealing incidents.

“Before a jury is going to convict a parent, a jury is going to have to know all the facts and be convinced he did it for the wrong reasons,” Braun said.

“In an extreme situation, parents behave instinctively. It’s like telling the waves to stop.”

Times Staff Writer Janet Rae-Dupree contributed to this article.