WHAT IS CHILD ABDUCTION?
Child abduction occurs when an adult takes a child away from where they are supposed to be. Child abduction is defined in the Criminal Code under Section 281 which states that any individual who entices, takes, steals, kidnaps, conceals or holds a person under the age of fourteen away from the parent or guardian is guilty of a crime. This includes anyone who takes a child from the path that the child is traveling and removes them to another area. Any individual who stops or hinders a child from where the parent or guardian thinks the child will be can be charged with child abduction. Any person found guilty of child abduction is liable for a prison term of not more than ten years. Within the formal definition of ‘child abduction’ there are two kinds of abduction that can occur, stranger abduction and parental abduction. The prison terms and sanctions for both of these types of abductions differ as the circumstances for these offenses are vastly different. The most common type of abduct
