Abduction and Kidnapping

Kidnapping is generally defined as the abduction of another person with intent to:

1. Hold him for ransom or reward; or
2. Use him as a shield or hostage; or
3. Accomplish or aid the commission of any felony or flight therefrom; or
4. Inflict physical injury upon him, or to violate or abuse him sexually; or
5. Terrorize him or a third person; or
6. Interfere with the performance of any governmental or political function.

Abduction may be made by secreting or holding a person in a place where he is not likely to be found, or using or threatening to use deadly physical force. Unlawful imprisonment is similar to kidnapping, but involves the restraint of movement of a person, as opposed to an abduction.

Laws vary by state - consult the law in your state to determine the required elements of the offense applicable to your jurisdiction.

No, because the dad is in charge of the safety of the child too.

Yes, if:

- The father retains sole physical custody of the child, the mother has visitation rights and took the child out-of-state during a time she did NOT have visitation with the child; OR

- The father retains sole physical custody of the child, the mother has absolutely no parental rights to the child and took the child out-of-state at any time.

No, if:

- There is a custody arrangement in place, whether as a written or oral agreement between the her and the father, or as an Order for Child Custody, and the mother retains primary or joint (equally shared) physical custody of the child; OR

- There is no custody arrangement in place between her and the father, and there is no Order for Child Custody in place, but she retains primary or sole physical custody of the child and/or the father never bothered to petition for custody; OR

- There is a custody agreement in place between her and the father, or there is an Order for Child Custody, and the father retains primary or sole physical custody of the child, IF the mother has visitation rights and chose to take the child out-of-state while she had visitation with the child;

- Just about any other scenario, other than the two described above under "yes," not otherwise described here.

To sum this up, no, the mother probably cannot be charged with parental kidnapping simply for taking her child out of state. The mother has a legal right to travel wherever she chooses with her child unless a court tells her otherwise. In fact, the mother may move out-of-state with the child permanently if she so chooses, and there is nothing the father can do.

The fact that the mother and the father were never married is completely irrelevant. The only difference between unmarried parents and divorced parents, is that divorced parents usually submit a custody plan to (or, more often, one parent receives an Order for Primary Physical Custody from) the family court, which explicitly outlines which parent has custody and which has visitation. If the parents never married, and the child lives with the mother, she is the custodial parent (which means she has primary physical custody of the child) and she can take the child wherever she pleases, whenever she wishes. The father has no legal claim to or right to control how the mother cares for the child while she retains custody, and the mother is certainly not required to seek permission or even notify the father of her intent to leave the state with her child so long as she retains custody,

NBC reported twice two and three years ago that this number is 50,000. However the same news agency reported the number of murders committed by Satanic Cults as 50,000*. NPR and the FBI call this "50,000" number the "Goldilocks Number."

The actual number of child abductions by strangers is difficult to track. The FBI reports that the actual number is in the area of 100-200 per year, and may be as low as 15-25 in some past years. Further, that the vast majority of child abduction cases, 85-95% are the result of domestic disagreements, and the abductors are typically a non-custodial parent or other family member.

The truth is that there are only eight types of crime that are actually tracked: murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft, and arson; and, arson is not included in national totals. These appear on the Uniform Crime Report, and release of these numbers does not actually occur earlier than one year after the end of the reporting year. The FBI is charged with keeping these statistics and reports them to the Department of Justice Bureau of Statistics and the GAO. You can also view the numbers at the FBI Uniform Crime Report link provided below.

*It is interesting to note that the total number of murders in the US yearly rarely has topped 23,000.

To press, or pressing, both short for impressment, by Press Gangs of the Royal Navy. Common practice was to press any man at large in the street or in public houses. Pressed men would have their waistbands cut, so they would have to hold up their pants, making it difficult to flee.

In theory, this was no different from conscription of men into the army (the draft) that continues to be practiced in many countries. But it was one cause of the War of 1812, when British vessels stopped or seized American ships for impressment of the "British born" sailors. Some were in fact deserters from the British Navy, both before and after the Revolutionary War.