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 Idaho, kidnapping is defined under Idaho Code § 18-4501 as the willful and unlawful seizing, confining, inveigling, enticing, decoying, abducting, concealing, kidnapping, or carrying away of any person by any means, with the intent to hold or detain that person for ransom, reward, to commit a felony, to inflict bodily injury or to terrorize the victim or another person. Aggravated kidnapping, which is a more serious offense, is outlined in Idaho Code § 18-4502 and occurs under circumstances such as kidnapping a child under 14 years of age without parental consent, demanding ransom, causing serious bodily injury or death, committing the act during a carjacking, using the victim as a shield or hostage, or exhibiting or using a deadly weapon during the kidnapping. Idaho law also addresses the abduction of children by parents or relatives, which can be considered custodial interference under certain conditions as per Idaho Code § 18-4506 and § 18-4510. The penalties for kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping are severe and can include life imprisonment, reflecting the serious nature of these crimes.