Kidnapping is a class A felony in District of Columbia. According to D.C. Code § 22-2001, a person is guilty of, or of aiding or abetting in, seizing, confining, inveigling, enticing, decoying, kidnapping, abducting, concealing, or carrying away any individual, and holding or detaining, or with the intent to hold or detain, such individual for ransom or reward shall, upon conviction be punished by imprisonment for not more than 30 years.
Kidnapping includes the seizing, confining, or detention of another. “The involuntary nature of the seizure and detention is the essence of the crime of kidnapping.”
Asportation is not an essential element of the kidnapping statute.[1]
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[1] Butler v. United States, 614 A.2d 875, 884 (D.C. 1992)