LOS ANGELES : Mother Held on $120,000 Bail in Child-Stealing Case
A Thousand Oaks mother has been ordered held on $120,000 bail to face trial on charges of stealing her 5-year-old daughter after a court awarded custody of the child to an unrelated Van Nuys man.
Catherine F. Thomas pleaded not guilty to charges of felony child abduction during a brief appearance in Los Angeles Municipal Court.
The prosecutor argued that Thomas deserves to remain in jail because of her history of twice running off with the girl after a Los Angeles judge awarded custody to Kevin Thomas, a former family friend who is no relation.
She disappeared with the child July 29 during a monitored visit and was arrested last week in Pittsburgh.
The girl remained in the custody of Kevin Thomas, who says that he and Catherine Thomas had agreed to raise the girl together, which Catherine Thomas denies.
Kevin Thomas, a gay, 43-year-old bill collector, changed his surname from McCain to Thomas in 1988 to match the child’s, and is listed as the father on her birth certificate, although all parties agree the child was fathered by another man.
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