OREGON KIDNAPPING AND CUSTODIAL INTERFERENCE LAWS

   ORS 163.215 Definitions for ORS 163.215 to 163.257.

   As used in ORS 163.215 to 163.257, unless the context requires otherwise:

   (1) “Without consent” means that the taking or confinement is accomplished by force, threat or deception, or, in the case of a person under 16 years of age or who is otherwise incapable of giving consent, that the taking or confinement is accomplished without the consent of the lawful custodian of the person.

   (2) “Lawful custodian” means a parent, guardian or other person responsible by authority of law for the care, custody or control of another.

   (3) “Relative” means a parent, ancestor, brother, sister, uncle or aunt. [1971 c.743 §97]

WHAT IS KIDNAPPING IN THE SECOND DEGREE IN OREGON? 

   ORS 163.225 Kidnapping in the second degree. [Known as Kidnapping II or Kidnapping 2]

    (1) A person commits the crime of kidnapping in the second degree if, with intent to interfere substantially with another’s personal liberty, and without consent or legal authority, the person:

   (a) Takes the person from one place to another; or

   (b) Secretly confines the person in a place where the person is not likely to be found.

   (2) It is a defense to a prosecution under subsection (1) of this section if:

   (a) The person taken or confined is under 16 years of age;

   (b) The defendant is a relative of that person; and

   (c) The sole purpose of the person is to assume control of that person.

   (3) Kidnapping in the second degree is a Class B felony. [1971 c.743 §98; 2005 c.22 §111]

WHAT IS KIDNAPPING IN THE FIRST DEGREE IN OREGON? 

   ORS 163.235 Kidnapping in the first degree. [Known as Kidnapping I or Kidnapping 1]

    (1) A person commits the crime of kidnapping in the first degree if the person violates ORS 163.225 with any of the following purposes:

   (a) To compel any person to pay or deliver money or property as ransom;

   (b) To hold the victim as a shield or hostage;

   (c) To cause physical injury to the victim;

   (d) To terrorize the victim or another person; or

   (e) To further the commission or attempted commission of any of the following crimes against the victim:

   (A) Rape in the first degree, as defined in ORS 163.375 (1)(b);

   (B) Sodomy in the first degree, as defined in ORS 163.405 (1)(b); or

      (C) Unlawful sexual penetration in the first degree, as defined in ORS 163.411 (1)(b).

      (2) Kidnapping in the first degree is a Class A felony. [1971 c.743 §99; 2005 c.22 §112; 2009 c.660 §43]

WHAT IS CUSTODIAL INTERFERENCE IN THE SECOND DEGREE IN OREGON? 

   ORS 163.245 Custodial interference in the second degree.

   (1) A person commits the crime of custodial interference in the second degree if, knowing or having reason to know that the person has no legal right to do so, the person takes, entices or keeps another person from the other person’s lawful custodian or in violation of a valid joint custody order with intent to hold the other person permanently or for a protracted period.

   (2) Expenses incurred by a lawful custodial parent or a parent enforcing a valid joint custody order in locating and regaining physical custody of the person taken, enticed or kept in violation of this section are “economic damages” for purposes of restitution under ORS 137.103 to 137.109.

   (3) Custodial interference in the second degree is a Class C felony. [1971 c.743 §100; 1981 c.774 §1; 1987 c.795 §7; 2005 c.564 §6]

WHAT IS CUSTODIAL INTERFERENCE IN THE FIRST DEGREE IN OREGON? 

    ORS 163.257 Custodial interference in the first degree.

    (1) A person commits the crime of custodial interference in the first degree if the person violates ORS 163.245 and:

   (a) Causes the person taken, enticed or kept from the lawful custodian or in violation of a valid joint custody order to be removed from the state; or

   (b) Exposes that person to a substantial risk of illness or physical injury.

   (2) Expenses incurred by a lawful custodial parent or a parent enforcing a valid joint custody order in locating and regaining physical custody of the person taken, enticed or kept in violation of this section are “economic damages” for purposes of restitution under ORS 137.103 to 137.109.

   (3) Custodial interference in the first degree is a Class B felony. [1971 c.743 §101; 1981 c.774 §2; 1987 c.795 §8; 2005 c.564 §7]

   ORS 163.263 Subjecting another person to involuntary servitude in the second degree. 

    (1) A person commits the crime of subjecting another person to involuntary servitude in the second degree if the person knowingly and without lawful authority forces or attempts to force the other person to engage in services by:

   (a) Abusing or threatening to abuse the law or legal process;

   (b) Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing an actual or purported passport or immigration document or another actual or purported government identification document of a person;

   (c) Threatening to report a person to a government agency for the purpose of arrest or deportation;

   (d) Threatening to collect an unlawful debt; or

   (e) Instilling in the other person a fear that the actor will withhold from the other person the necessities of life, including but not limited to lodging, food and clothing.

   (2) Subjecting another person to involuntary servitude in the second degree is a Class C felony. [2007 c.811 §3]

   ORS 163.264 Subjecting another person to involuntary servitude in the first degree. 

      (1) A person commits the crime of subjecting another person to involuntary servitude in the first degree if the person knowingly and without lawful authority forces or attempts to force the other person to engage in or continue to engage in services by:

      (a) Causing or threatening to cause the death of or serious physical injury to a person; or

      (b) Physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain a person.

      (2) When determining whether force or attempted force is present in a prosecution under this section, the finder of fact shall consider the totality of the circumstances, including but not limited to the age of the other person, the relationship between the other person and the defendant, the immigration status of the other person and any handicap or disability of the other person.

      (3) Subjecting another person to involuntary servitude in the first degree is a Class B felony.

      (4) The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission shall classify subjecting another person to involuntary servitude in the first degree as crime category 9 of the sentencing guidelines grid of the commission when the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense. [2007 c.811 §2; 2023 c.217 §3]

   ORS 163.266 Trafficking in persons. 

      (1) A person commits the crime of trafficking in persons if the person knowingly recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means, or attempts to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means, another person and:

      (a) The person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the other person will be subjected to involuntary servitude as described in ORS 163.263 or 163.264;

      (b) The person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that force, fraud or coercion will be used to cause the other person to engage in a commercial sex act; or

      (c) The person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the other person is under 18 years of age and will be used in a commercial sex act.

      (2) A person commits the crime of trafficking in persons if the person knowingly benefits financially or receives something of value from participation in a venture that involves an act prohibited by subsection (1) of this section or ORS 163.263 or 163.264.

      (3) As used in this section, “commercial sex act” means sexual conduct or sexual contact, as those terms are defined in ORS 167.002, performed in return for a fee or anything of value.

      (4) Violation of subsection (1)(a) or (2) of this section is a Class B felony.

      (5) Violation of subsection (1)(b) or (c) of this section is a Class A felony. [2007 c.811 §4; 2013 c.720 §1; 2017 c.395 §1; 2023 c.217 §4]

      ORS 163.269 Defenses for victims of involuntary servitude and trafficking in persons. 

      (1) A person who is the victim of a crime described in ORS 163.263, 163.264 or 163.266 may assert the defense of duress, as described in ORS 161.270, if the person is prosecuted for conduct that constitutes services under ORS 163.261, that the person was caused to provide.

      (2) In a prosecution for a crime other than a person crime based on conduct that constitutes services under ORS 163.261 that a person was caused to provide, it is an affirmative defense that the person was a human trafficking victim at the time of engaging in the conduct and engaged in the conduct due to being a human trafficking victim.

      (3) As used in this section:

      (a) “Human trafficking” means conduct constituting an offense under ORS 163.263, 163.264 or 163.266.

      (b) “Human trafficking victim” means a person who is subjected to human trafficking regardless of whether the perpetrator of the human trafficking is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted.

      (c) “Person crime” means a person felony or a person Class A misdemeanor, as those terms are defined in the rules of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. [2007 c.811 §10; 2023 c.217 §5]

Both kidnapping in the first degree and kidnapping in the second degree are serious Ballot Measure 11 felonies and typically come with lengthy prison sentences unless pled down to a lesser charge.