new york penal law 135 20 kidnapping in the second degree.

Kidnapping is one of the most serious crimes in New York. It involves taking someone against their will and holding them somewhere they don't wanna be. Kidnapping in the second degree is when someone kidnaps another person. It don't matter how old the victim is. Kidnapping in the second degree is a class B felony. If convicted, you could go to prison for up to 25 years.

I'm gonna talk about the specific law, what it means, some examples, defenses, and what happens if you're convicted. I'll also link to some other articles that go more in-depth on certain things.

The Law - New York Penal Law 135.20

Here's what the law says:

A person is guilty of kidnapping in the second degree when he or she abducts another person.

That's pretty simple. You kidnap someone, you committed this crime. Let's break it down more.

Abduct means you restrain a person and prevent them from leaving. You don't need to use force or weapons to abduct someone. It can be verbal threats or intimidation. You also don't need to take them far. Even moving them a small distance is enough.

Restrain means limiting their movements. This includes things like tying them up, locking them in a room, holding them down. It don't gotta be for a long time neither. Even just a few minutes is enough.

It don't matter if you kidnapped someone for ransom, revenge, or anything else. Motive is irrelevant here. All that matters is you abducted them.

Examples

Here's some examples of kidnapping in the second degree:

• Grabbing someone off the street and forcing them into your car
• Luring someone into a building under false pretenses then not letting them leave
• Tying up your spouse and holding them hostage during a fight
• Blocking someone in a room and threatening them if they try to leave

As you can see, there's a lot of different ways it can happen. Anytime you take away someone's freedom against their will, you could be looking at a kidnapping charge.

Defenses