Abduction/Kidnapping - definitions

Question 1

Unlawfully

Answer 1

Unlawfully means “without lawful justification or excuse”.

Question 2

Consent obtained by fraud

Answer 2

In some cases, the offender may decieve the victim into agreeing to a proposition by misrepresenting the facts or their intentions.

Question 3

Consent obtained by duress

Answer 3

A victim may acquiesce to an offender’s demands based on fear of the consequences if they refuse.

Duress may arise from the actual or implied threat of force to the victim or another person but can also include other forms of pressure or coercion.

The critical question in relation to duress is whether the threats, pressure or coercion are such that they destroy the reality of consent and overbear the will of the individual.

Question 4

Intent

Answer 4

In a criminal law context, there are two specific types of intention in an offence. Firstly, there must be an intention to commit the act and secondly, an intention to get a specific result.

The second type of intent is an intent to produce a specific result. In this context result means “aim, object, or purpose”.

Question 5

Sexual connection

Answer 5

Crimes Act 1961, Section 2

(a) connection effected by the introduction into the genitalia or anus of one person, otherwise than for genuine medical purposes, of—
(i) a part of the body of another person; or
(ii) an object held or manipulated by another person; or
(b) connection between the mouth or tongue of one person and a part of another person’s genitalia or anus; or
(c) the continuation of connection of a kind described in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b)

Question 6

Ransom

Answer 6

A “ransom” is a sum of money demanded or paid for the release of a person being held captive.

Question 7

Confine

Answer 7

“Confining” a person can include restricting their movements to within a geographical area, but also has a wider meaning that includes curtailing their activity and exercising control and influence over them.

Question 8

Imprison

Answer 8

To “imprison” a person means to put them in prison, or to confine them as if in prison. It has a narrower meaning than “confine”.

Question 9

Entice

Answer 9

To “entice” means to tempt, persuade, or attract by arousing hope or desire.

Question 10

Knowledge

Answer 10

Knowing means “knowing or correctly believing. The defendant may believe something wrongly, but cannot ‘know’ something that is false”.

The offender must know that the young person they are receiving has been abducted.