Is it stealing?

A young man opened a savings account when he was a minor, which means he really had no control over the account as his mother not only had her name on it because of his age but she also put the stipulation that he had to be 18 to access and control it.

After accruing a decent amount in the account, roughly $500.00, his mother withdraws all but $20 or so dollars. This was done without his permission.

No too long later the removal of funds, he finds the money on a dresser and it equals almost all of his savings account. He had been collecting gift money from relatives and from doing odd jobs here and there like watching his younger siblings when needed, chores, etc..
When he inquired about this wad of cash, his mother said it came from his account. Being a minor, he was under the impression that it was going toward a shopping spree. When he asked if he could have it, he was told "No."..
The money was spent on absurd items like an end of the world survival kit(WTF?!!?). About 2/3 of the money out of his account has been spent by his mother. The remainder was sitting in a drawer at her house but she refuses to to hand it over even though it's his money that she pilfered from his account.

Of course she had no problem handing the account over to him when he reached 18 as there was only about $20 was left in it since she never replaced the money she took.
To top it all off she is trying to use what's left of the money as a bribe or incentive to get him to come and "spend time" with her(WTF?!!).

Ok now for my opinion on this:
She should NEVER had taken money that wasn't her's to begin with! Just because her name was on the account wasn't an all access pass to his money that was given to him as a gift and money he had earned. It's theft plain and simple..
The remainder of the money should not be used as a bargaining chip/incentive to get him to visit her. She had him for 18 years... he moved out for a reason.
Don't be petty with this money issue and return what's rightfully his.
She may think it's going to bring him closer but all this stunt has accomplished is pissing him off and pushing him farther away.

Are there parents in this world that will stoop so low as to steal money from their own children and think it's perfectly normal?

Update: 6.4.10 - The mother actually gave back less than half of what was taken out. Hopefully she will return the remainder in an effort to continue doing the right thing.