This is a list of notable child abuse cases in which children were illegally imprisoned for multiple years.

Cases of children imprisoned by relatives
 Alba Nidia Álvarez, Mariquita, Colombia, 25 years, discovered in March 2009.
 "Anna", Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, United States, 6 years, discovered on 6 February 1938.
 Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Solihull, West Midlands, England, 1 year, discovered in June 2020.
 Blanche Monnier, Poitiers, France, 25 years.
 Byron Anthony McCane II, Oklahoma, United States, 2 years, discovered in 1983.
 Drenthe hermits family of six children, Ruinerwold, the Netherlands, at least 9 years, discovered in October 2019.
 Elisabeth Fritzl and her children, Austria, 24 years, discovered in April 2008.
 Elizabeth Wesson, her sisters, her children, her nieces and her nephews, Fresno, California, US, 26 years, climaxed 2004.
 "Genie", Arcadia, California, United States, 13 years, discovered on 4 November 1970.
 Jeffrey Baldwin, Toronto, Canada, 4 years, discovered 30 November 2002.
 Jürgen Bartsch, Langenberg, Germany, 6 years.
 "M" and her children, Moe, Victoria, Australia, 28 years, discovered in February 2007.
 "Laura" Mongelli, Turin, Italy, 25 years.
 Lucero case, Argentina, 20 years, discovered in May 2009.
 Lydia Gouardo, Val-de-Marne, France, 28 years.
 Rader/Beighley case, Pennsylvania, United States, 1 year.
 Rosalynn McGinnis, Missouri, United States, 19 years, escaped in 2016.
 Sheffield incest case, UK, 25 years, discovered in November 2008.
Schollenberger Case, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, 10 years, discovered in May 2020.
South Wales paternal sex abuse case, South Wales, UK, 20 years, discovered in 2019.
Turpin case, Perris, California, United States, 29 years, discovered on 14 January 2018.
Viktoria, Katharina, and Elisabeth (Linz sisters), Linz, Austria, 7 years.

Cases of abduction 

 Jayme Closs, kidnapped after her parents' murder and held for 88 days.
 Murder of Sylvia Likens, a teenager tortured and repeatedly held captive in the basement by her caretaker and her children and their friends for three months.
 Jaycee Dugard, kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido, Antioch, California, US, 18 years, 2 months, 16 days.
John Jamelske, serial rapist-kidnapper who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped a series of girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, a suburb of Syracuse, New York, USA. All five of his victims were from different ethnic origins and most from different age groups.
 Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, kidnapper Michael J. Devlin, Kirkwood, Missouri, US, 4 years.
 Tanya Nicole Kach, kidnapper Thomas Hose, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, US, 10 years.
 Natascha Kampusch, kidnapper Wolfgang Přiklopil, Vienna, Austria, 8 years, 5 months.
 Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus, kidnapper Ariel Castro, Cleveland, Ohio, US, 9 to 11 years.
 Katya Martynova and Lena Samokhina, kidnapper Viktor Mokhov, Skopin, Ryazan, Russia, 3 to 4 years.
 Anna Saito, kidnapper Kabu Terauchi, Higashi-Nakano, Tokyo, Japan, 2 years.
 Fusako Sano, kidnapper Nobuyuki Satō, Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, 9 years, 2 months.
 Santa Ana kidnapping accusation of 15-year-old girl, held by Isidro Garcia, Santa Ana, California, US, 10 years.
 Elizabeth Smart, kidnappers Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, Salt Lake City, Utah, and San Diego County, California, US, 9 months.
 Steven Stayner, kidnappers Kenneth Parnell and Ervin Murphy, Merced, California, US, 7 years.

Sexual slavery of minors
 Kidwelly sex cult
 Jeffrey Epstein
 Birmingham bathing cult
 Lambeth slavery case

Other
 Kaspar Hauser, Nuremberg, Germany, 16 years.
 Marvin L. Maple, US, arrested in 2009 for kidnapping his grandchildren, 20 years earlier.
 Colleen Stan, US, an American woman who was kidnapped and held captive between 1977 and 1984.
 Alexander Komin, Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Oblast, Russia.

References

Detention
Child abuse
Child abuse Detention
Child abuse resulting in death