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 Connecticut, kidnapping is defined under state statutes, specifically in the penal code. The basic offense of kidnapping involves restraining another person with the intent to (1) prevent their liberation by hiding them or holding them in a place where they are not likely to be found, or (2) to compel them or a third person to do or abstain from doing any act as a condition of the victim's release. Kidnapping in the first degree, which is a more serious form of the crime, may involve abducting another person, and it becomes aggravated when the victim is under 16 years of age, the intent is to inflict physical injury or violate or abuse the victim sexually, or the kidnapping involves the use of a deadly weapon or results in the death of the victim. Kidnapping in the second degree is a lesser offense but still involves unlawful restraint. Connecticut law also recognizes the unlawful restraint of a person, which can be a lesser included offense of kidnapping. Affirmative defenses may be available in certain circumstances, such as when the person taken is a relative of the kidnapper and the intent is not to commit a criminal offense against the victim. The state also has specific laws regarding the abduction of children by parents or relatives, which can be distinct from general kidnapping statutes and may not require the child to be moved a significant distance to qualify as an offense.