Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
A congressman is sponsoring a bill that would allow Elizabeth Morgan, the doctor who fled with her daughter to New Zealand rather than let her visit the father she said abused the child, come home.
Rep. Tom Davis, a freshman Republican from Morgan's home district in suburban Virginia, said Wednesday he will submit a measure next week that clears all standing court orders against Morgan.
Morgan has spent nearly six years in self-imposed exile with her daughter, Hilary. Morgan's accusations that her former husband, Eric Foretich, sexually abused the child ignited a decade-long, multimillion-dollar legal battle. Foretich always has denied harming Hilary in any way.
``At this point, this bill is not about taking sides,'' Davis said. ``It's about the young girl, who is really a young woman now. She wants to come back home, and she should be able to come back home.''
The proposed bill would effectively overturn a Washington, D.C., judge's order giving Foretich unsupervised visits with his daughter. The 12-year-old girl, known now as Ellen Morgan, was a toddler when the fierce, highly publicized custody fight began.
Foretich, a McLean oral surgeon, said he has not seen the bill and could not comment on it.
``I'm only concerned with my daughter's welfare and well-being,'' Foretich said. ``I hope someday when she's older she can approach me and relearn the father I am ... reacquaint herself with me and understand the love I've always had for her, as she knew as a young child.''
Ellen Morgan wrote Davis a ``very personal'' letter last month, Davis said. The letter convinced him the girl would be better off in this country, despite the continuing war between her parents, Davis said.
``I was really moved by getting a letter from the young lady. She asked for my help,'' he said.
Davis said he has had no contact with Morgan or Foretich, but has discussed the case with Elizabeth Morgan's father, William Morgan, who lives in Davis' district.
Elizabeth Morgan's husband, Paul Michel, said she and her daughter are eager to return to the United States.
``If the visitation orders of the court were somehow rescinded, then they could both return without danger of reimprisonment or forced visits,'' Michel said.
Michel, a judge in the same court that sent Morgan to jail, spends about two months a year in New Zealand with his wife.
``I'm not going to comment on the legal aspects. I just want my family back,'' he said.
Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, the Washington law firm representing Morgan, was not involved in drafting the legislation and had no comment, said a partner, Juanita Crowley.
Davis' bill does not mention Morgan by name. But like the special legislation that Congress passed to release her after 25 months in jail in Washington in 1989, the law is narrowly tailored to her case.
The bill, titled ``Special Treatment of Certain Pending Child Custody Cases in Superior Court of District of Columbia,'' would apply for one year after passage.
``We'll introduce legislation, and we'll hold hearings about it,'' Davis said. ``If Foretich wants to come forward at that time and give a talk about it, he can do that.''
Other lawmakers have been supportive, Davis said.
A private investigator hired by Foretich found Morgan, her daughter and her elderly mother living in Christchurch, New Zealand, several years ago.
Without Davis' legislation, Morgan cannot leave until 2000, when Hilary turns 18. A New Zealand court, which awarded Morgan custody and rebuffed Foretich's attempts to bring his daughter home, also holds the Morgans' passports.
Morgan, a plastic surgeon, is not allowed to practice medicine in New Zealand. She recently got a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, and might practice either profession if she returns, Michel said.
Keywords:
NO
by CNB