Girl Found--Mother Was Jailed 2 Years for Hiding Her : Custody battle: The child is with her grandparents in New Zealand. A new round in the parents’ bitter legal fight is expected.

Seven-year-old Hilary Foretich, whose mother spent more than two years in jail as part of a bitter legal battle over alleged sexual abuse by her father, has been located in New Zealand with her maternal grandparents, her parents confirmed Friday.

Hilary’s mother, plastic surgeon Elizabeth Morgan, said that her daughter has been staying in New Zealand with Morgan’s parents, and that they are seeking court approval to remain in that country indefinitely.

Hilary’s discovery already has touched off a complex tangle of international litigation as both parents seek to reclaim her. A court hearing is scheduled in New Zealand next week over the issue of who should have custody of the child.

“Everybody is great, “ Morgan said in an interview Friday night. “I called twice today. I talked to my parents. Hilary is doing fine.”

The New Zealand authorities “seem to really care about children,” Morgan said. “That’s all I want. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I have confidence they will put her welfare first.”

Hilary’s father, Virginia oral surgeon Eric A. Foretich, said the girl was found as a result of an international search conducted on his behalf by several teams of attorneys and private investigators.

“I found my daughter through my own private means,” Foretich said in an interview. “This is the culmination of two arduous, very painful years. But just to know that she’s alive means so much to me.”

Morgan sent Hilary into hiding in 1987 after she became convinced that the child was being sexually abused by her ex-husband. Foretich has vehemently denied the accusation, contending that it was Morgan who did the molesting.

Morgan was imprisoned in a Washington jail on Aug. 28, 1987, because she defied a court order to produce her child for unsupervised visits with Foretich. Superior Court Judge Herbert Dixon Jr. said he found the evidence of sexual abuse inconclusive.

Morgan was released last Sept. 25 after President Bush signed a law, enacted specifically on Morgan’s behalf, that placed a one-year limit on civil contempt imprisonments in child custody cases in the District of Columbia.

New Zealand authorities said they learned that Hilary and her grandparents, William and Antonia Morgan, were in the country after they applied for permanent residency. They have been living in a motel in Christchurch, where Hilary reportedly had been attending private school.

The Morgans and their granddaughter had moved to New Zealand from England, where they had lived more more than a year, according to an account published in the London Times. The child was using the name Ellen Morgan, friends of the family confirmed.

The London Times report said that information about Hilary’s whereabouts was disclosed by a BBC television producer who was faced with the threat of jail for contempt of court. The producer reportedly had been served with a court order obtained by Foretich.

The producer’s knowledge of Hilary was based on information provided by a teacher in Plymouth, England, who recognized a picture of Hilary on a television documentary, the newspaper reported.

The teacher said that Hilary was a former student at Beechfield College, a private prep school, and had left in the summer of 1988.

Morgan said that Hilary is being represented by a court-appointed attorney and is being evaluated by an expert in child psychology. Foretich has been prohibited from having any contact with his daughter pending the outcome of the evaluation.

Morgan said she will attempt to join her daughter and her parents in New Zealand if she can persuade Judge Dixon to return her passport. She intends to renew a request for the passport on Monday.

Foretich said he has had a team of lawyers and detectives working both in England and New Zealand and intends to travel to New Zealand soon to press his legal efforts to obtain custody of his daughter.

Foretich said the information provided by the teacher “helped piece things together.” Based on a tip he received last week, his investigators located Hilary and her grandparents at a motel in Christchurch, Foretich said.

“Of course I am going over there,” Foretich said. “I will probably be over there for some time. It’s going to be a dogfight. I expect Elizabeth Morgan to apply her slander, her same tactics there, as she did here. I expect her to generate a lot of media attention.”

Foretich said the passports of Hilary and her grandparents have been confiscated by New Zealand authorities, and they have been restricted to the motel pending the outcome of the custody hearing.

Foretich’s attorney, Elaine Mittleman, said the custody fight will be complicated by the fact that New Zealand has not signed the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The international agreement specifies that abducted children are to be returned to their preabduction status and location until legal custody is resolved.

“As far as we know, the courts of New Zealand will have to do something,” Mittleman said. “We just don’t know what. It’s one more battle. We’re apprehensive.”

Morgan separated from Foretich shortly before Hilary was born. Both parents claim not to have seen the child since Morgan sent her into hiding in 1987.

The legal battle over Hilary commanded national attention as Morgan became a cause celebre for women’s rights groups and other supporters who applauded her willingness to go to jail to protect her child. Her detractors, however, saw Morgan as a woman who simply defied the law.