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 Kansas, kidnapping is defined under Kansas Statutes Annotated (K.S.A.) 21-5408. A person commits the crime of kidnapping by intentionally or recklessly confining, removing, or restraining another person without consent and with the intent to hold the person for ransom, to facilitate the commission of any crime, to inflict bodily injury or to terrorize the victim or another. Kidnapping is a severity level 3, person felony in Kansas. Aggravated kidnapping, which is a more serious offense, is defined under K.S.A. 21-5408 as well and occurs when the kidnapping is accompanied by any of the circumstances listed in the topic description, such as kidnapping a child under 14 years of age, demanding ransom, causing serious bodily injury or death, or using a deadly weapon. Aggravated kidnapping is classified as a severity level 1, person felony. Kansas law also addresses parental kidnapping under K.S.A. 21-5409, which occurs when a parent or other person with lawful custody of a child under the age of 16 takes the child with the intent to deprive another person of their rightful custody or visitation rights. The specific charges and penalties can vary based on the circumstances of the case, and affirmative defenses may be available in certain situations, such as when the person taken is related to the kidnapper and there is no intent to harm or terrorize the child.