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 North Carolina, kidnapping is defined under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-39. The statute classifies kidnapping as either first or second degree. First-degree kidnapping occurs when a person is kidnapped and the victim is not released in a safe place, is seriously injured, or sexually assaulted. Second-degree kidnapping involves holding, restraining, or taking a person against their will without the aggravating circumstances required for first-degree kidnapping. Aggravated kidnapping, as described, would typically fall under first-degree kidnapping in North Carolina, especially if the victim is a child under 16 (not 14 as the general description suggests), the kidnapper asks for ransom, causes serious injury or death, or uses a deadly weapon. North Carolina law also addresses parental kidnapping under § 14-320.1, which makes it illegal for a parent to abduct a child under 16 years old in violation of a custody order. The specific circumstances of each case, such as the relationship between the kidnapper and the victim and the actions taken during the offense, will determine the exact charges and potential defenses available.