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Kidnapping

The ransom note used in Adolph Coors III's kidnapping and eventual murder.

In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will. Kidnapping is typically but not necessarily accomplished by use of force or fear; i.e., it also usually involves menace/assault or/and battery; but it is still kidnapping without those additional elements, or if a person is enticed to enter the vehicle or dwelling willingly.  

Kidnapping may be done to demand for ransom in exchange for releasing the victim, or for other illegal purposes. Kidnapping can be accompanied by bodily injury, which elevates the crime to aggravated kidnapping.

Kidnapping of a child is known as child abduction, which is a separate legal category.

Motives

When a child is kidnapped, it is usually by a parent or an adult. The kidnapping of an adult can be for ransom or by force. When a person is kidnapped for ransom, it is usually for a significant amount of money. Kidnapping a child or adult can also be motivated by sexual desires in which the victim will be sexually assaulted.  

In the past, and presently in some parts of the world (such as southern Sudan), kidnapping is a common means used to obtain slaves and money through ransom. In the 19^th century, kidnapping in the form of shanghaiing (or "pressganging") men supplied merchant ships with sailors, whom the law considered unfree labor.

Mexican gangs are estimated to have made up to $250 million in kidnappings from Central American migrants.

According to a 2022 study by political scientist Danielle Gilbert, armed groups in Colombia engage in ransom kidnappings to maintain the armed groups' local systems of taxation. The groups resort to ransom kidnappings to punish tax evasion and incentivize inhabitants not to shirk.

K. J. Ståhlberg (in the center-right), the first President of the Republic of Finland, and his wife at the Helsinki Central Station after their kidnapping. In the middle of picture their daughter Elli Ståhlberg stands behind them.

Kidnapping has been identified as one source by which terrorist organizations obtain funding.

Bride kidnapping is referred to when a woman is taken against her will by a man who wants to marry her and is raped. It has been practiced around the world for centuries in many regions, including Caucasus, Central Asia and Africa.

Express kidnapping is a method used for an immediate ransom where the victim is taken to an ATM and forced to give the captor money.

Tiger kidnapping occurs when a person is kidnapped, and the captor forces them to commit a crime such as robbery or murder. The victim is held hostage until the captor's demands are met. The term originates from the usually long preceding observation, like a tiger does when stalking prey. This is a method which has been used by the Real Irish Republican Army and the Continuity Irish Republican Army.  

Kidnapping has been used by family and friends of cult members as a method to remove them from the cult and begin a deprogramming process. Deprogrammers justify using the extreme act of kidnapping the cult member to change their allegiance away from the cult.

By jurisdiction

Australia

The abduction of Dinah, (watercolor, c. 1896–1902 by James Tissot)

In Australia, kidnapping is a criminal offence, as defined by either the State Crimes Act, or the Commonwealth Criminal Code. It is a serious indictable offence, and is punishable by up to 14 – 25 years imprisonment.

Canada

Kidnapping that does not result in a homicide is a hybrid offence that comes with a maximum possible penalty of life imprisonment (18 months if tried summarily). A murder that results from kidnapping is classified as 1st-degree, with a sentence of life imprisonment that results from conviction (the mandatory penalty for murder under Canadian law).

Mexico

The General Law to Prevent and Punish Crimes of Kidnapping establishes a prison sentence of 20-40 years for an individual convicted of holding another person as a hostage. The prison term increases to 25-45 years if the kidnapping occurred with violence against the victims, and then increases to 25-50 years if the kidnapping was committed by members of public safety. If the kidnapping results in homicide, the prison sentence will be from 40 to 70 years.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, there are two kinds of kidnapping: Kidnapping from Pakistan and kidnapping from lawful guardianship. Penal Code 360 states whoever conveys any person beyond the limits of Pakistan without the consent of that person or of some person legally authorized to consent on behalf of that person is said to kidnap that person from Pakistan. Penal Code 363 states that whoever kidnaps any person from Pakistan or lawful guardianship shall be punished with imprisonment of either description of a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to a fine. Kidnapping with a motive of murder, hurt, slavery, or to the lust of any person shall be punished with imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to a fine.

Netherlands

Article 282 prohibits hostaging (and 'kidnapping' is a kind of 'hostaging'). Part 1 of Article 282 allows sentencing kidnappers to maximum imprisonment of 8 years or a fine of the fifth category. Part 2 allows maximum imprisonment of 9 years or a fine of the fifth category if there are serious injuries. Part 3 allows maximum imprisonment of 12 years or a fine of the fifth category if the victim has been killed. Part 4 allows sentencing people that collaborate with kidnapping (such as proposing or make available a location where the victim hostaged). Part 1, 2 and 3 will apply also to them.

United Kingdom

Kidnapping is an offence under the common law of England and Wales. Lord Brandon said in 1984 R v D:

First, the nature of the offence is an attack on, and infringement of, the personal liberty of an individual. Secondly, the offence contains four ingredients as follows: (1) the taking or carrying away of one person by another; (2) by force or fraud; (3) without the consent of the person so taken or carried away; and (4) without lawful excuse.

In all cases of kidnapping of children, where it is alleged that a child has been kidnapped, it is the absence of the consent of that child which is material. This is the case regardless of the age of the child. A very small child will not have the understanding or intelligence to consent. This means that absence of consent will be a necessary inference from the age of the child. It is a question of fact for the jury whether an older child has sufficient understanding and intelligence to consent. Lord Brandon said: "I should not expect a jury to find at all frequently that a child under fourteen had sufficient understanding and intelligence to give its consent." If the child (being capable of doing so) did consent to being taken or carried away, the fact that the person having custody or care and control of that child did not consent to that child being taken or carried away is immaterial. If, on the other hand, the child did not consent, the consent of the person having custody or care and control of the child may support a defence of lawful excuse. It is known as Gillick competence.

Regarding restriction on prosecution, no prosecution may be instituted, except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, for an offence of kidnapping if it was committed against a child under the age of sixteen and by a person connected with the child, within the meaning of section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984. Kidnapping is an indictable-only offence. Kidnapping is punishable with imprisonment or fine at the discretion of the court. There is no limit on the fine or the term of imprisonment that may be imposed provided the sentence is not inordinate.

A parent should only be prosecuted for kidnapping their own child "in exceptional cases, where the conduct of the parent concerned is so bad that an ordinary right-thinking person would immediately and without hesitation regard it as criminal in nature".

United States

Main article: Kidnapping in the United States

Law in the United States follows from English common law. Following the highly publicized 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, Congress passed the Federal Kidnapping Act, which authorized the FBI to investigate kidnapping at a time when the Bureau was expanding in size and authority. The fact that a kidnapped victim may have been taken across state lines brings the crime within the ambit of federal criminal law.

Most states recognize different types of kidnapping and punish according to such factors as the location, duration, method, manner and purpose of the offense. There are several deterrents to kidnapping in the United States of America. Among these are:

1. The extreme logistical challenges involved in successfully exchanging the money for the return of the victim without being apprehended or surveilled.
2. Harsh punishment. Convicted kidnappers face lengthy prison terms. If a victim is brought across state lines, federal charges can be laid as well.
3. Good cooperation and information sharing between law enforcement agencies, and tools for spreading information to the public (such as the AMBER Alert system).

One notorious failed example of kidnap for ransom was the 1976 Chowchilla bus kidnapping, in which 26 children were abducted with the intention of bringing in a $5 million ransom. The children and driver escaped from an underground van without the aid of law enforcement. According to the Department of Justice, kidnapping makes up 2% of all reported violent crimes against juveniles.

From the 1990s on, the New York divorce coercion gang was involved in the kidnapping and torture of Jewish husbands in New York City and New Jersey for the purpose of forcing them to grant gittin (religious divorces) to their wives. They were finally apprehended on October 9, 2013, in connection with a foiled kidnapping plot.

According to a 2003 Domestic Violence Report in Colorado, out of a survey of 189 incidents, most people (usually white females) are taken from their homes or residence by a present or former spouse or significant other. They are usually taken by force, not by weapon, and usually the victims are not injured when they are freed.

In 2009, Phoenix, Arizona reported over 300 cases of kidnapping, although subsequent investigation found that the Phoenix police falsified data. If true, this would have been the highest rate of any U.S. city and second in the world only to Mexico City. A rise in kidnappings in the southwestern United States in general has been attributed to misclassification by local police, lack of a unified standard, desire for Federal grants, or the Mexican Drug War.

In 2010, the United States was ranked sixth in the world (by absolute numbers, not per capita) for kidnapping for ransom, according to the available statistics (after Colombia, Italy, Lebanon, Peru, and the Philippines).

In 2009, the Los Angeles Times named Phoenix, Arizona, as America's kidnapping capital, reporting that every year hundreds of ransom kidnappings occur there, virtually all within the underworld associated with human and drug smuggling from Mexico, and often done as a way of collecting unpaid debts. However, a later audit by the U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General found only 59 federally reportable kidnappings in 2008, compared to the over 300 claimed on grant applications.

During the year 1999 in the United States, 203,900 children were reported as the victims of family abductions and 58,200 of non-family abductions. However, only 115 were the result of "stereotypical" kidnaps (by someone unknown or of slight acquaintance to the child, held permanently or for ransom).

Statistics

Countries with the highest rates Since 2019, the risk of kidnapping has risen worldwide, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase is mostly seen in kidnappings for ransom. This factors from a variety of aspects, including socioeconomic disparities, insufficient resources, and flawed judicial systems. Another impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kidnappers is the economic strain that it had put many families through. This pressured kidnappers to both increase ransom as well as increasing kidnappings.

The highest recorded demand in 2021 was 77.3m USD while in 2019, it was 28.7m USD. This 269% pre-to-post-pandemic increase is a trend that is reportedly apparent in all aspects. Between those two years, the average global ransom demand increased 43% while the median global ransom demand increased by 6%.

The regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Congo (DRC), Nigeria, and South Africa are likely to maintain higher levels of kidnappings due to ongoing effects of recent genocide, civil wars and high numbers of religious extremist groups. In 2004, Mexico was named the country with the most kidnappings. While there is no hard evidence of which country had the most kidnappings in 2021, the American region (which includes Mexico) maintained its high rates sitting as the region with the second most highest kidnapping rates.

After 2022, the wearing effects of COVID-19 have welcomed back in-person interactions, travel and tourism. The connection between increased tourism and kidnapping is reflected through the rise of global kidnapping rates from 2019 to 2021-2023.

Top 10 countries with the highest kidnapping rates in 2023.

Pirates

Arrested kidnappers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil lying on the ground.

Kidnapping on the high seas in connection with piracy has been increasing. It was reported that 661 crewmembers were taken hostage and 12 kidnapped in the first nine months of 2009. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre recorded that 141 crew members were taken hostage and 83 were kidnapped in 2018.

See also

• All pages with titles beginning with Kidnapping of
• Child abduction
• Extraordinary rendition
• Fetal abduction
• Forced disappearance
• Gooning
• Hostage
• Human trafficking
• International Search and Rescue Dog Organisation (about mantrailing)
• Kidnap and ransom insurance
• Kidnappings in Colombia
• List of kidnappings
• Stockholm syndrome