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Penalties for a Kidnapping Offense in Ventura County

Your teenage child is addicted to drugs. After months of arguing, crying, and dealing with the lies, you don't know what to do anymore. One night, you pick him up from his college dorm and refuse to let him go back until he cleans himself up. You know it might not be the best decision, but you felt so powerless-what else could you have done?

In cases like these, even though you may have been acting in someone's best interests, you could still be facing a California kidnapping charge.

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Under California law, a person is guilty of kidnapping if they "take, hold, steal or detain another person by fear or force and remove them to another location." Depending on the specifics of your case, you could be sentenced with between 3 to 11 years in prison.

Kidnapping charges in may include:

• Taking a person to another location without their consent. The distance traveled does not have to be far; even a few miles or to another home in the same city may be seen as an abduction.
• Terrorizing or inflicting bodily harm on the person. If any actions could be construed as harmful to the victim, the kidnapper will likely face enhancements to the sentence.
• Abducting a person to interfere with a governmental action. This may include a custody decision or defiance of a personal protection order.
• Confinement or abduction in order to assist another felony. In these cases, the victim may be forced to commit crimes on the kidnapper's behalf, such as stealing or providing false alibis.
• Holding the victim hostage or demanding a ransom. The charges against a kidnapper may be increased significantly if the kidnapper demanded a ransom for the victim's return.

Kidnapping is generally seen as a felony offense, meaning it carries a punishment of 3 to 8 years. However, kidnapping a minor carries a much greater sentence: a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 11 years if the victim was under the age of 14.

As experienced Ventura criminal defense attorneys, we know that many innocent people are charged with kidnapping when they did not have malicious intentions. The arresting officers are required to go "by the book," and it is not until your case goes to court that the jury will have to consider all the facts.

At Bamieh & Erickson, we work to get the charges against you dropped whenever possible. If you are facing conviction, we always fight for the minimal sentencing and get your criminal record cleared.

If you have been charged with kidnapping in Santa Barbara, call Bamieh & Erickson today at (805) 643-5555 for a free consultation on your case.

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