Kidnapping and False Imprisonment are closely related serious felony offenses. Kidnapping is a punishable by life offense and false imprisonment is a third degree felony that can be a life felony if the state is able to prove certain aggravating factors. False imprisonment merely requires that the State Attorney prove that the defendant restrained another individual against their will. Oftentimes, the State Attorney will attempt to charge a defendant with false imprisonment for merely stopping a person from leaving a room by blocking the doorway.
When a person hears kidnapping, they immediately think of a person taking a child by force. That is not, however, how the statute is written. Kidnapping merely requires that the State Attorney show that the defendant committed a false imprisonment for a particular purpose – holding the individual for ransom, committing a felony, inflicting bodily harm upon the individual, or interfering with governmental functions. Because of the nature of the statute, kidnapping can be charged in far more circumstances than may at first be apparent.