A person generally commits the criminal offense of kidnapping by using force or other means of instilling fear to steal, take, hold, detain, abduct, or arrest a person and take them to another location. A person of any age may be a victim of kidnapping.

And a person generally commits the criminal offense of aggravated kidnapping if the person (1) uses force, fear, or fraud upon a victim who is a child under 14 years of age; (2) accompanies the kidnapping with a demand for ransom; (3) causes the victim to suffer serious bodily injury or death; (4) kidnaps a person during a carjacking; (5) uses the victim as a shield or hostage; or (6) exhibits or uses a deadly weapon during the course of the kidnapping.

Kidnapping laws vary from state to state, including definitions and affirmative defenses, such as whether the person taken is related to the kidnapper. Some states have child abduction laws that apply to the abduction of children by parents or relatives when the child is not moved a significant distance (out of county or state). Kidnapping laws are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Colorado, kidnapping is defined under state statutes and is considered a serious criminal offense. The basic form of kidnapping, as per Colorado law, involves seizing, carrying, taking, or enticing away any person by force, threat, or deception, with the intent to keep the person secretly imprisoned, confined against their will, or to take the person out of the state without their consent. Aggravated kidnapping in Colorado includes circumstances where the victim is a child under 14 years of age, a ransom is demanded, the victim suffers serious bodily injury or death, the kidnapping occurs during a carjacking, the victim is used as a shield or hostage, or a deadly weapon is used during the kidnapping. These factors elevate the crime to a more serious level with harsher penalties. Colorado law also addresses the issue of parental kidnapping, which can occur even without significant movement of the child, and is treated separately with its own legal considerations and penalties. The specific statutes detailing kidnapping and related offenses can be found in the Colorado Revised Statutes, under the criminal code.