§ 2405 - Kidnapping - Vermont Statutes

§ 2405. Kidnapping

(a) A person commits the crime of kidnapping if the person:

(1) knowingly restrains another person with the intent to:

(A) hold the restrained person for ransom or reward; or

(B) use the restrained person as a shield or hostage; or

(C) inflict bodily injury upon the restrained person or place the restrained person or a third person in fear that any person will be subjected to bodily injury; or

(D) sexually assault the restrained person or place the restrained person or a third person in fear that any person will be sexually assaulted; or

(E) facilitate the commission of another crime or flight thereafter; or

(2) not being a relative of a person under the age of 16, knowingly restrains that person, without the consent of the person's custodian, with the intent to keep the person from his or her lawful custodian for a substantial period.

(b) Kidnapping is punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both. It is, however, an affirmative defense which reduces the penalty to imprisonment for not more than 30 years or a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both, that the defendant voluntarily caused the release of the victim alive in a safe place before arraignment without having caused serious bodily injury to the victim. (Added 1989, No. 293 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)