Yes, parents can kidnap their own children

Most people think of kidnapping as a third party taking a child from the child’s parents. There are cases, though, where one of the actual parents can still face kidnapping charges.

For instance, this can happen when someone tries to leave the country even though they share custody of their child with an ex. This is known as international parental kidnapping, and it is sometimes referred to as abduction. It violates the rights of both the child and the other parent.

This may happen after a contested divorce case. Perhaps both parents want sole custody. The court decides that the child should live with Parent A all of the time, but they do give Parent B visitation rights. The reasoning is that Parent A does not have a safe living space for the child, but the court wants to keep them both involved in the child’s life.

Unhappy with that decision, Parent B abducts the child during one of these visitation meetings. It can also happen if they have joint custody. Either way, Parent B drives across the border and into Mexico — or boards a plane for Europe — where they have extended family. They hope to get around the court’s ruling by moving the child far enough away from the other biological parent so that they no longer have to share custody rights.

A case like this can get incredibly complicated and may be dangerous for the child. Parents often do not feel like what they’re doing is illegal since it is their child, but it is. Everyone involved in a contentious case of this type needs to know what legal options they have.