2006 Ohio Revised Code - 2905.01. Kidnapping.

§ 2905.01. Kidnapping.
 

(A)  No person, by force, threat, or deception, or, in the case of a victim under the age of thirteen or mentally incompetent, by any means, shall remove another from the place where the other person is found or restrain the liberty of the other person, for any of the following purposes: 

(1) To hold for ransom, or as a shield or hostage; 

(2) To facilitate the commission of any felony or flight thereafter; 

(3) To terrorize, or to inflict serious physical harm on the victim or another; 

(4) To engage in sexual activity, as defined in section 2907.01 of the Revised Code, with the victim against the victim's will; 

(5) To hinder, impede, or obstruct a function of government, or to force any action or concession on the part of governmental authority. 

(B)  No person, by force, threat, or deception, or, in the case of a victim under the age of thirteen or mentally incompetent, by any means, shall knowingly do any of the following, under circumstances that create a substantial risk of serious physical harm to the victim or, in the case of a minor victim, under circumstances that either create a substantial risk of serious physical harm to the victim or cause physical harm to the victim: 

(1) Remove another from the place where the other person is found; 

(2) Restrain another of his liberty; 

(3) Hold another in a condition of involuntary servitude. 

(C)  Whoever violates this section is guilty of kidnapping, a felony of the first degree. If the offender releases the victim in a safe place unharmed, kidnapping is a felony of the second degree. 
 

HISTORY: 134 v H 511 (Eff 1-1-74); 139 v S 199 (Eff 1-5-83); 146 v S 2. Eff 7-1-96.
 

Not analogous to former RC § 2905.01 (Bureau of Code Revision, 10-1-53), repealed 134 v H 511, § 2, eff 1-1-74.

The effective date is set by section 6 of SB 2. 

 

19xx Committee Report or Comment.

1974 Committee Comment to H 511

This section defines the most serious offense among the abduction offenses in the code. The offense is divided into two parts, each having a different primary thrust though sharing certain common elements. 

The first part of the section includes an abduction or restrain of another for any one of several specified purposes, and it is the offender's purpose which determines the tenor of this part of the offense. The listed purposes include: to hold for ransom or as a shield or hostage; to aid in committing another serious crime or escape thereafter; to terrorize the victim or another, or to inflict serious harm on the victim or another; to engage in non-consensual sexual activity with the victim; or to interfere with a governmental function or force a governmental officer or agency to act in a certain way. 

The second part of the section also includes an abduction or restraint, and includes holding another in involuntary servitude. In this part of the section, however, the offender's purpose is irrelevant since the key factor here is the special danger in which the victim is placed. For example, holding another prisoner without adequate food, shelter, or medical care could constitute an offense under the second part of this section, regardless of the offender's purpose. 

Force, threat, or deception is generally required to commit the offense, as when the victim is bodily carried off, frightened into going along, or decoyed away. The lack of discretion in a child or incompetent person, however, dictates the exception. For example children are often abducted merely by accepting rides from strangers, and under this section it makes no difference whether the child or incompetent voluntarily accompanies the kidnapper or submits to restraint. 

An offense under this section does not depend on the distance the victim is removed or the manner in which he is restrained. Rather it depends on whether the removal or restraint is such as to place the victim in the offender's power and beyond immediate help, even though temporarily. Thus, removal of the victim may be for only a short distance, such as from one car to another. See, People v. Chessman, 38 Cal.2d 166, 238 P.2d 1001 (1951). Also, the restraint involved need not be actual confinement, but may be merely compelling the victim to stay where he is. 

Under former law, kidnapping for ransom and compassing the death of a kidnap victim were capital offenses. Kidnapping in any form is not a capital offense under the new code, since it is doubtful whether the death penalty may constitutionally be inflicted for such an offense in light of Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 33 L.Ed. 2d 346, 92 S.Ct. 2726, (1972) (three cases). Purposely causing the death of a kidnap victim would, however, constitute aggravated murder under section 2903.01(B), for which the death penalty could be inflicted. 

Kidnapping is a felony of the first degree. If the offender releases the victim in a safe place unharmed, kidnapping is a felony of the second degree.