Morgan Custody Fight Finds New Battleground

Six weeks after her release from jail, Elizabeth Morgan’s dispute with her ex-husband, Eric A. Foretich, has become a hot property.

Morgan and Foretich were married for less than a year, but since 1983 have been locked in a pitiless struggle for custody and visitation of their daughter, Hilary. In the weeks since Morgan’s discharge Sept. 25, the two have found new battlegrounds.

In Hollywood, at least two competitors are racing to produce made-for-television movies--one giving Morgan extraordinary control, the other an independent production that has upset Morgan’s supporters. Foretich’s attorneys say they are watching closely.

In Washington, the two sides are raising money for rival trust funds for Hilary. Each intends to use its trust fund to fight the other on Hilary’s behalf.

They even have rival 800 numbers. The Friends of Elizabeth Morgan, at 800-888-MRGN, provide daily tape-recorded updates on the case and exhort supporters to write letters on Morgan’s behalf. The Help Hilary Home hot line, at 800-345-HLRY, rings in Foretich’s dental office and seeks cash contributions and tips on the child’s whereabouts.

Both have come to cast their fight as the emblem of a broader cause.

Morgan, who accuses Foretich of sexually abusing their daughter, says she is battling for the rights of abused children in general against a legal system that fails to protect them. Foretich, who denies the charge and maintains that Morgan’s decision to hide the child is tantamount to kidnaping, says he is battling for missing and exploited children in general against parents who take the law into their own hands.

For a time, before Morgan’s release, Foretich seemed to be on the verge of withdrawing from the dispute, saying he was tired of fighting with Morgan.

Since Morgan won her freedom, Foretich has apparently changed his mind.

Last week, with the assistance of public-relations executive Vicki Lovett, Foretich launched the Help Hilary Home Trust to help him locate his daughter and to lobby for a federal law against what he sees as parental kidnaping.