Mother Settles for $35,000 in Whitelaw Case

A man acquitted in 1985 of stealing his two daughters in a custody dispute has reached an out-of-court settlement with his ex-wife, who had filed a $1.5-million civil suit against him.

Ronald Whitelaw, who took the girls from their mother’s Valencia home in April, 1978, said Tuesday that the girls’ mother, Faith Canutt, had agreed to a $35,000 settlement.

The girls, Alisa, 16, and Kristin, 13, live with Whitelaw and his second wife, Sandy Melhorn Whitelaw, on a ranch near Lebanon, Ore.

The agreement ends a long legal battle that included criminal charges, a custody fight and the civil suit.

Canutt won a $1.5-million judgment against the Whitelaws in Los Angeles Superior Court in October, 1984. At the time, authorities did not know the whereabouts of Whitelaw, who was living in the Lebanon area with his family under an assumed name.

Whitelaw sought a new trial, which was denied by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jerry K. Field. Whitelaw’s appeal of the decision is pending.

In August, 1985, the police arrested Whitelaw, who had been accused of felony child theft for taking the children. Whitelaw said he had taken his daughters because he feared for his safety and theirs.

He was acquitted of the child-theft charge in December, 1985, in a jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Canutt’s attorney, Stephen Kolodny, said in an interview Wednesday that Canutt agreed to the settlement “because Whitelaw and his wife have either disposed of or secreted all the assets that they had, and so collection is difficult if not impossible other than selling the property upon which the children reside.”

“Faith has elected not to try to . . . sell that property where the children are living because she doesn’t want to cause them any more stress.”

The property has been valued at $90,000, Whitelaw said. He denied that he has hidden his assets.