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 Maine, kidnapping is defined under Title 17-A, §301 of the Maine Criminal Code. It is considered a Class A crime when a person knowingly restrains another person with the intent to hold that person for ransom or hostage; to use the person as a shield; to inflict bodily injury or to terrorize the victim or another person; or to commit a felony. Aggravated kidnapping, which is a more serious offense, occurs under circumstances such as when the victim is under 14 years of age, when the kidnapping results in serious bodily injury or death, or when a deadly weapon is used. Aggravated kidnapping is also classified as a Class A crime, which is the most serious level of offense in Maine, carrying the potential for a life sentence. Maine law also recognizes affirmative defenses to kidnapping, such as if the person taken is a relative of the kidnapper and the kidnapper's sole purpose is to assume lawful control of that person. Child abduction by parents or relatives, even without significant movement of the child, can also be addressed under Maine's family law statutes, which deal with custodial interference.