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 Indiana, kidnapping is defined under Indiana Code 35-42-3-2. A person commits the offense of kidnapping when they knowingly or intentionally remove another person, by fraud, enticement, force, or threat of force, from one place to another with the intent to confine the person against their will. This also includes situations where the person is made to believe that they must go with the kidnapper. The crime is a Level 6 felony but can be elevated to a Level 3 felony if it is committed while armed with a deadly weapon, results in bodily injury to someone other than the kidnapper, or is committed with the intent to obtain ransom. Aggravated kidnapping, which involves circumstances such as kidnapping a child under 14, demanding ransom, causing serious bodily injury or death, carjacking, using the victim as a shield or hostage, or exhibiting a deadly weapon, is treated more severely and can result in higher felony charges. Indiana law also addresses child abduction, including cases involving family members, under different statutes, which consider the relationship between the abductor and the child and the circumstances of the abduction.