Kidnapping is generally defined as the involuntary movement of a person from one place to another.
California Penal Code 207-210 defines kidnapping as: " (a) Every person who forcibly, or by any other means of instilling fear, steals or takes, or holds, detains, or arrests any person in this state, and carries the person into another country, state, or county, or into another part of the same county, is guilty of kidnapping. (b) Every person, who for the purpose of committing any act defined in Section 288, hires, persuades, entices, decoys, or seduces by false promises, misrepresentations, or the like, any child under the age of 14 years to go out of this country, state, or county, or into another part of the same county, is guilty of kidnapping."
Within in this definition there are two types of kidnapping: simple and aggravated. Aggravated kidnapping is when the defendant engaged in kidnapping in order to commit another crime. Under California law, aggravated kidnapping receives harsher sentences.
An individual convicted for kidnapping is subject to imprisonment for three, five, or eight years in state prison.
