Shay Bilchik, Administrator               FACT SHEET #34  November 1995.



                          PARENTAL KIDNAPPING

by Ronald Laney

Richie was only four when his non-custodial father abducted
him. When he was located a year later, his vocabulary had
diminished and he was suffering from a fungal skin condition
caused by a lack of hygiene. The boy screamed in terror at
the sight of his mother because he had been told she had
abandoned him.

Richie and his mother are two of the victims of the estimated
354,100 parental abductions that take place in the United
States each year.   

Conducted in 1988, National Incidence Studies of Missing,
Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children
(NISMART) estimated that 3,200 to 4,600 nonfamily
abductions involved coercion, detention of the child for more
than one hour, or the luring of the child for the purpose of
committing another crime. Of the 354,100 family abductions
that NISMART estimated took place that year,   163,200
involved concealment, interstate transportation of the child,
or evidence the abductor intended to alter custodial privileges
permanently.  

Impact

Recent research suggests that children endure adverse
consequences from being abducted. Besides emotional
turmoil, children may suffer from inadequate schooling, poor
nutrition, unstable lifestyles, and neglect. Some are
abandoned, only to be discovered living in foster homes. In
the most egregious cases, children suffer long-term harm that
may leave them scarred for life. 

Faced with the demands of rising violent crime and 
dwindling budget resources, law enforcement agencies are
hard-pressed to make parental abductions a priority.  The
belief that a child is safe with a parent lessens the chance of 


aggressive  investigation by law enforcement. Yet one study 
reported 49 percent of abductors have previously established
criminal  histories and 75 percent of  abducting fathers have
a history of violent behavior.

Research reveals diverse motivations when a parent kidnaps
children in violation of custody or visitation rights.  Children
are often used as pawns in contentious divorces in a parental
game of one-upmanship.  Some abductors kidnap children  as
an extension of battering, seeking to control their spouse by
depriving them of visitation or custodial rights.  One of the
most difficult claims for police and prosecutors to investigate
is the allegation that domestic violence or abuse motivates the
abduction. Abductors may  flee to avoid further abuse to
themselves or children, or the abuser may abduct in an
attempt to intimidate a battered parent who is attempting to
leave the relationship.

Strategies

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC) recommends that law enforcement officers
investigate allegations of abuse and parental kidnapping
separately and comprehensively. To neglect one charge in
favor of the other  places children at risk. NCMEC's Missing
and Abducted Children: A Law Enforcement Guide to Case
Investigation and Program Management (1995) contains an
investigative checklist and a complete discussion of issues
associated with parental abduction investigations.  In cases
where no civil custodial determinations are in place, NCMEC
recommends that investigating officers, at a minimum, enter
the child into the FBI's National Crime Information Center
(NCIC) Missing Person File.  Once a State or local court
establishes custody, investigators may proceed with a
criminal investigation as appropriate.

Recognizing the possibility of custody violations when one
parent flees domestic violence, the National Council of
Juvenile and Family Court Judges'  Family Violence Project
recommends the following four steps to law enforcement and
prosecutors:

1.   Issue a warrant for the fleeing parent.

2.   Ensure that there is an adequate investigation of the
     potential  impact of  family violence on the flight.

3.   Maintain existing child custody orders until such   
      investigation is complete.

4.   Initiate orders to protect the children until final
     resolution.

Federal Response  

The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA), 28 U.S.C.
1738, authorizes the issuance of federal warrants for unlawful
flight to avoid prosecution in parental abduction cases.  The
PKPA also provides access to authorized persons, including
law enforcement officers, to the Federal Parent Locator
Service. This service, which searches such Federal agency
databases as  Social Security Administration, Internal
Revenue Service, and State Employment Agencies,  can help
find abducting parents. 

The PKPA authorizes the Federal Bureau of Investigation to
investigate parental kidnapping cases when an unlawful flight
to avoid prosecution (UFAP) warrant has been issued. FBI
investigation of parental abduction cases that cross state
boundaries can be crucial to the resolution of these crimes.  
 
The Missing Children Act of 1982, Public Law 97-292,  and
the National Child Search Assistance Act of 1990, Public
Law 101-647, prohibit policies that establish waiting periods
for police reports and require the entry of missing children
information into the NCIC database.  

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(OJJDP) has established a partnership with NCMEC. 
Established in 1984,  NCMEC provides lead information,
case management, photo distribution, age progression, 
publications, and technical assistance to law enforcement,
prosecutors, parents, and other interested parties. NCMEC
maintains a toll-free hotline and works closely with local law
enforcement and state clearinghouses to prevent abductions,
find abducted children, and facilitate their return to the
custodial parent.




Additional Resources

OJJDP sponsors no-cost training for law enforcement and
prosecutors through Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC). 
FVTC offers a three-day course, Missing and Exploited
Children, that presents advanced investigative and
interviewing techniques applicable to missing children cases.
For further information regarding this course, please call
FVTC toll-free at  1-800-648-4966.

OJJDP publications that provide additional information
regarding parental kidnapping include:  

 Obstacles to the Recovery and Return of Parentally
Abducted Children,  American Bar Association (1995)

  Parental Kidnapping, Domestic Violence, and Child
Abuse: Changing Legal Responses to Related Violence. 
American Prosecutor's Research Institute (1995)

  Charging Parental Kidnapping, American Prosecutors'
Research Institute (1995).     

These publications may be obtained by calling the Juvenile
Justice Clearinghouse toll-free at 1-800- 638-8736.

Relevant NCMEC publications include:

  Family Abduction: How to Prevent an Abduction and
What to Do if Your Child is Abducted,  National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children (1994)

  Missing and Abducted Children:  A Law Enforcement
Guide to Case Investigation and Program Management, 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children  (1995).

These publications may be obtained by calling  NCMEC toll-free at 1-800-843-5678.

For further information regarding NCMEC, see National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, OJJDP Fact
Sheet #32, October 1995.



Ronald Laney is the Director of the Missing and Exploited
Children Program within the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention.

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