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 Pennsylvania, kidnapping is defined under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2901 as unlawfully removing another person a substantial distance under the circumstances, or unlawfully confining an individual for a substantial period in a place of isolation, with any of the following intentions: to hold for ransom or reward, to facilitate the commission of any felony or flight thereafter, to inflict bodily injury on or to terrorize the victim or another, or to interfere with the performance of any governmental or political function. Aggravated kidnapping, although not specifically termed as such in Pennsylvania statutes, would be addressed by the same section with the consideration of aggravating factors such as the victim's age, use of force, or infliction of serious bodily injury, which could result in more severe penalties. The use of a deadly weapon during a kidnapping could also lead to additional charges such as aggravated assault. Pennsylvania law also includes specific provisions for the interference with the custody of children under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2904, which addresses situations where a parent or relative unlawfully takes or keeps a child, potentially without the need for the child to be moved a significant distance.