Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : Two Plead Not Guilty to Child-Stealing Counts

A man and his mother pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that they stole his two children away from their mother in Utah and hid them in Orange County.

Santa Ana Municipal Judge Richard W. Stanford Jr. set bail at $100,000 for Scott B. Grud, 28, and $50,000 for his mother, Barbara M. Grud, 48.

Utah police charge that the Gruds abducted Scott Grud’s two children--9-year-old Jennifer and 10-year-old Scott--from Scott Grud’s ex-wife, Mary E. Beckwith, 29, more than 3 years ago. Utah officials say the Gruds held the youngsters in seclusion while police, private investigators and Beckwith tried to trace them.

A closed hearing was held Thursday in Orange County Juvenile Court on the future of the children. But as of late Thursday, the children remained at the Orangewood Children’s Home, where they have stayed since the Gruds’ arrest earlier this week, officials at the center said.

Beckwith, who came to Orange County earlier this week, is trying to get the children released to her custody so she can take them back with her to Utah.

Scott Grud is an unemployed construction worker. He, his mother and the two children had lived in Orange County for about a year, most recently in a Santa Ana apartment, police said.

Beckwith charges that her ex-husband had the children in Wyoming in August, 1985, for his regular summer visit and never returned them to Beckwith’s home in Utah, as he was required to do under terms of their custody arrangement.

At Thursday’s arraignment, attorneys were appointed by the court to defend Scott and Barbara Grud against the charges.