Las Vegas Kidnapping: Explained by a LV Criminal Defense Attorney
Taking a person away without their consent or without the knowledge of their loved ones is a crime called kidnapping. In Las Vegas and other areas in Nevada, it is an extremely serious crime that could land in you prison for a lifetime. If you are accused of Las Vegas kidnapping, understand that there is a big possibility of the consequence happening to you. Still, there are different degrees of kidnapping and is a very complex case that you could always find your way out of.
Kidnapping in the Nevada Revised Statutes
Kidnapping is a broad term but according to Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 200.310 it basically is committed when a person “willfully seizes, confines, inveigles, entices, decoys, abducts, conceals, kidnaps or carries away a person by any means whatsoever with the intent to hold or detain.”
Usually, kidnapping is carried out so kidnappers can ask for ransom, perform sexual assault, or just harm or kill the victim. In the final months of last year, there was a prominent kidnapping case in Las Vegas that rocked the city where four teenagers are accused of kidnapping and beating a woman in the Las Vegas Strip.
Punishments for Kidnapping in Las Vegas
As mentioned, Las Vegas kidnapping has different degrees which are the first and second degree. According to NRS 200.320, a person a guilty of first-degree kidnapping should face a category A felony. First degree is the common type of kidnapping when an individual intentionally abducts another and hold them for ransom or other particular reason and caused them injuries or dropped them in an unsafe environment.
A category A felony could either mean life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, life imprisonment with the possibility of parole when at least 15 years have been served or 40 years of imprisonment with parole only available after a minimum of 15 years had passed in the sentence.
When there is no substantial bodily harm or injury found in the kidnapped victim, penalties could be life imprisonment with the possibility of parole within five years or 15 years of imprisonment with the parole possibility after five years was served.
A second degree Las Vegas kidnapping, on the other hand, means less than the factors in the first-degree kidnapping. For example, the victim was not harmed at all and was left in a safe place. This incurs category B felony with penalties of imprisonment for two to 15 years and fines not more than $15,000.
Aiding on the act of kidnapping is also punishable by law in Nevada. As written in NRS 200.340, a person who is confirmed of helping the kidnapper in terms of providing them shelter or giving them ways of escape is guilty of a felony. Category A for a first degree and category B for a second degree.
Removing a child from the care of its legal parent or guardian is also kidnapping in Las Vegas. Even if you are a parent of the child, you cannot take them and refuse the other parent the right to see them or retrieve them. This could result in punishment for kidnapping as stated in category E or D felony.
A Las Vegas kidnapping could also escalate to a federal crime when it involves travel of the kidnapper and the kidnapped across different states. This is one of the major crimes in the country.
Defenses against Las Vegas Kidnapping
First and foremost, you cannot use consent as a defense for kidnapping in Las Vegas (or elsewhere in the country for that matter) if the person you allegedly kidnapped was a minor.
However, there are a lot more defenses that you can consider such as the following:
No kidnapping
This simple defense could be the only thing you got and trust us that it could help you if there really is no kidnapping or you did not intend to do it at all. You could argue that you are not even anywhere near the place of the supposed kidnapping, or you did not know the victim at all. If you however did the manner of seizure of a person, you could say that you did not realize it is kidnapping as there no movement from one place to another involved.
Under duress or coercion
It could also happen that you were threatened by other people to kidnap a person and your life and your family’s life could have been in danger if you did not do so.
Taking away the child for its safety
There also are instances when the sole custodian is abusing a child that could be your own and you have no choice but to carry the child away for its safety.
Kidnapping in Las Vegas is one of the most notorious crimes that could happen to anyone as it is also a precursor to greater crimes such as sex trafficking and ultimately, murder. If it happens that you are imposed with Las Vegas kidnapping charges and believe that you could not do such crime, get the help of a Las Vegas criminal defense attorney to justify your innocence!
