2005 Missouri Revised Statutes - § 565.115. — Child kidnapping--penalty.

565.115. 1. A person commits the crime of child kidnapping if such person is not a relative of the child within the third degree and such person:

(1) Unlawfully removes a child under the age of fourteen without the consent of such child's parent or guardian from the place where such child is found; or

(2) Unlawfully confines a child under the age of fourteen without the consent of such child's parent or guardian.

2. In determining whether the child was removed or confined unlawfully, it is an affirmative defense that the person reasonably believed that the person's actions were necessary to preserve the child from danger to his or her welfare.

3. Child kidnapping is a class A felony.

(L. 2004 H.B. 1487)

Effective 6-17-04