US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

(1) A person commits kidnapping if he abducts another or, having abducted another, continues to restrain him with intent to do the following:

(a) Hold him for ransom or reward; or

(b) Use him as a shield or hostage; or

(c) Terrorize him or a third person; or

(d) Commit a felony; or

(e) Interfere with the performance of any government or political function.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, kidnapping is a Class IA felony.

(3) If the person kidnapped was voluntarily released or liberated alive by the abductor and in a safe place without having suffered serious bodily injury, prior to trial, kidnapping is a Class II felony.

Laws 1977, LB 38, § 28

Registration of sex offenders,see sections 29-4001 to 29-4013.

Kidnapping is not a lesser-included offense of first degree sexual assault, nor is sexual assault a lesser-included offense of kidnapping; it is not impossible to commit one of these crimes without having committed the other. State v. Maeder, 229 Neb. 568, 428 N.W.2d 180 (1988).

Sections 28-313 and 28-314 define separate offenses. State v. Miller, 216 Neb. 72, 341 N.W.2d 915 (1983).

The purpose of kidnapping in every instance is to make it possible to commit some other crime. One may not erase the commission of a crime simply because, after committing it, a second crime is committed. State v. Schmidt, 213 Neb. 126, 327 N.W.2d 624 (1982).

The Nebraska kidnapping statute defines only a single criminal offense which is punishable by two different ranges of penalties depending on the treatment accorded the victim. State v. Schneckloth, Koger, and Heathman, 210 Neb. 144, 313 N.W.2d 438 (1981).

The district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing the defendant to forty years for aiding and abetting kidnapping where sentence was well within the statutory limits, whether crime was classified as a Class IA or Class II felony, and the court had correctly considered that the victims were not voluntarily released and one victim had been raped, though defendant was not convicted of aiding and abetting the rape. United States v. Gomez, 733 F.2d 69 (8th Cir. 1984).