Kidnapping is punishable by life in prison. So loaded is the term kidnapping, it suggests that the individual charged with this crime is a degenerate criminal of the worst kind. As explained in more detail below, prosecutors routinely charge individuals with kidnapping when the allegations do not warrant such a charge. When determining which criminal defense lawyer to hire, select an attorney with experience. Attorney Mahoney has successfully defended several individuals charged with kidnapping in the courts of Cambridge and Boston. In fact, no client of Attorney Mahoney’s has been convicted of kidnapping or pled guilty to such an offense.
To schedule a free consultation with Attorney Mahoney, please call 617-492-0055.
The crime of kidnapping seems almost self-evident. It suggests that a person commits the crime by absconding with a parent’s child – a “kid.” While that may be how the crime had been historically interpreted and applied, prosecutor’s have been increasingly charging individuals with the crime of kidnapping where the alleged conduct would appear to have nothing to do with kidnapping.
G.L. c. 265, §26 defines kidnapping as forcibly or secretly confining or imprisoning another person against his will, or forcibly carrying away or sending a person out of the state, or forcibly seizing and confining or kidnapping another person, with intent to either cause him to be secretly confined or imprisoned against his will. Prosecutors pervert the purpose of this criminal statute and use it against individuals whose intent and actions hardly constitute kidnapping. Typically, where prosecutors have charged an individual with rape, they will also charge him with kidnapping, reasoning that while the man committed the crime of rape he must have been holding the victim against her will.
Additionally, by adding the charge of kidnapping, prosecutors can up the charge of rape to aggravated rape and, thereby, dramatically increase the potential prison time the individual would serve if convicted. Kidnapping alone is punishable by imprisonment in state prison for not more than ten years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and imprisonment in jail for not more than two years. If the crime was committed with the intent of extorting money or something else of value, the accused individual faces life in prison. If the accused commits the crime while armed with a firearm with the intent of extorting money or something else of value, he faces a prison sentence of no less than 20 years.
The more common definition of kidnapping can be found later in the statute: Whoever, without lawful authority, forcibly or secretly confines or imprisons a child under the age of 16 within the commonwealth against his will or forcibly carries or sends such person out of the commonwealth or forcibly seizes and confines or inveigles or kidnaps a child under the age of 16 with the intent either to cause him to be secretly confined or imprisoned in the commonwealth against his will or to cause him to be sent out of the commonwealth against his will or in any way held to service against his will, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 15 years. The provisions of the preceding sentence shall not apply to the parent of a child under 16 years of age who takes custody of such child.
Attorney Mahoney has successfully defended individuals accused of kidnapping. Please see his trial record for details.
