Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 102

When you hear the word kidnapping, you likely think of the taking and holding of a person against her will for ransom purposes. Early in the 20th century, kidnappings of public or wealthy citizens happened regularly. The most famous case may have been the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s infant son from his bedroom.

Other well-known cases include the kidnappings of the granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst in California and of the 9-year-old son of lumberman J. P. Weyerhaeuser from Tacoma, Washington.

These days, however, kidnapping for ransom is relatively rare in the United States. Much more common than kidnapping for ransom is kidnapping in conjunction with another crime. For example, in a rape case, if a person is transported or confined against her will, a prosecutor may charge the offender with both rape and kidnapping.

Recently, the United States is seeing cases where Mexican kidnappers snatch family members of other Mexicans who are in the country illegally and hold them for ransom. Kidnappers view this action as a low-risk crime because the victims aren’t likely to contact police for fear of being deported.

Because kidnapping is relatively rare in the United States, the FBI doesn’t gather statistics on the number of kidnappings that occur.

Sentences for kidnapping are often similar to those for other violent crimes, such as robbery, rape, or aggravated assault.