Reunited after 16 years, a father attends his daughter’s wedding
Published: September 4, 2003
Doug Harwood — the man whose ex-wife hid his daughters’ whereabouts from him for 16 years — said he agreed for her to get long-term probation and little jail time because he felt it was the best way to make her face the consequences of her actions.
Harwood’s ex-wife, Catherine Walker, pleaded guilty in Upshur County, Texas, last month to interference with child custody. Walker, 49, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years probation. She faced up to 10 years in prison.
Harwood, who now lives in New York state, agreed with the prosecutor’s recommendation on that sentence.
“I wanted to be sure that Catherine was held accountable for her crime, and the plea agreement was the best way to guarantee she would be punished,” Harwood said. “There is no punishment that can ever give me back one single day of Rebekah’s or Elizabeth’s childhood. But I am satisfied that (she) will be required to report monthly to a probation officer and be reminded, every month for the next 10 years, of the unthinkable crime she committed.”
Investigators said Walker used an underground Christian network that helps parents hide themselves and their children from a parent they believe is abusive. Walker moved the children from state to state and used a fake social security number and several aliases, investigators said. Her ex-husband had visitation rights.
Harwood was reunited with his daughters — Rebekah, 22, and Elizabeth, 19 — in February after they discovered their birth certificates. The last time he saw them, they were 6 and 3.
Last month, Harwood went to Rebekah’s wedding in Washington state and gave her away. His ex-wife was in the Upshur County Jail.
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