18 U.S.C. § 1201 : US Code - Section 1201: Kidnapping

Search 18 U.S.C. § 1201 : US Code - Section 1201: Kidnapping

(a) Whoever unlawfully seizes, confines, inveigles, decoys,
kidnaps, abducts, or carries away and holds for ransom or reward or
otherwise any person, except in the case of a minor by the parent
thereof, when -
(1) the person is willfully transported in interstate or
foreign commerce, regardless of whether the person was alive when
transported across a State boundary if the person was alive when
the transportation began;
(2) any such act against the person is done within the special
maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States;
(3) any such act against the person is done within the special
aircraft jurisdiction of the United States as defined in section
46501 of title 49;
(4) the person is a foreign official, an internationally
protected person, or an official guest as those terms are defined
in section 1116(b) of this title; or
(5) the person is among those officers and employees described
in section 1114 of this title and any such act against the person
is done while the person is engaged in, or on account of, the
performance of official duties,
shall be punished by imprisonment for any term of years or for life
and, if the death of any person results, shall be punished by death
or life imprisonment.
(b) With respect to subsection (a)(1), above, the failure to
release the victim within twenty-four hours after he shall have
been unlawfully seized, confined, inveigled, decoyed, kidnapped,
abducted, or carried away shall create a rebuttable presumption
that such person has been transported to interstate or foreign
commerce. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the fact that the
presumption under this section has not yet taken effect does not
preclude a Federal investigation of a possible violation of this
section before the 24-hour period has ended.
(c) If two or more persons conspire to violate this section and
one or more of such persons do any overt act to effect the object
of the conspiracy, each shall be punished by imprisonment for any
term of years or for life.
(d) Whoever attempts to violate subsection (a) shall be punished
by imprisonment for not more than twenty years.
(e) If the victim of an offense under subsection (a) is an
internationally protected person outside the United States, the
United States may exercise jurisdiction over the offense if (1) the
victim is a representative, officer, employee, or agent of the
United States, (2) an offender is a national of the United States,
or (3) an offender is afterwards found in the United States. As
used in this subsection, the United States includes all areas under
the jurisdiction of the United States including any of the places
within the provisions of sections 5 and 7 of this title and section
46501(2) of title 49. For purposes of this subsection, the term
"national of the United States" has the meaning prescribed in
section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(22)).
(f) In the course of enforcement of subsection (a)(4) and any
other sections prohibiting a conspiracy or attempt to violate
subsection (a)(4), the Attorney General may request assistance from
any Federal, State, or local agency, including the Army, Navy, and
Air Force, any statute, rule, or regulation to the contrary
notwithstanding.
(g) Special Rule for Certain Offenses Involving Children. -
(1) To whom applicable. - If -
(A) the victim of an offense under this section has not
attained the age of eighteen years; and
(B) the offender -
(i) has attained such age; and
(ii) is not -
(I) a parent;
(II) a grandparent;
(III) a brother;
(IV) a sister;
(V) an aunt;
(VI) an uncle; or
(VII) an individual having legal custody of the victim;
the sentence under this section for such offense shall include
imprisonment for not less than 20 years.
[(2) Repealed. Pub. L. 108-21, title I, Sec. 104(b), Apr. 30,
2003, 117 Stat. 653.]
(h) As used in this section, the term "parent" does not include a
person whose parental rights with respect to the victim of an
offense under this section have been terminated by a final court
order.