Kidnapping in America: A Closer Look at the Legal System

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“Any person who shall unlawfully confine, restrain, or remove any person without consent from one place to another shall be guilty of kidnapping” (N.D., n.d.). Kidnapping is a current issue happening in the United States and the justice system is doing the most it can to apprehend and discipline kidnappers. To commit the act of kidnapping is a serious felony offense that could result in a prison sentence of 20 or more years. Children kidnapped by a stranger is very rare, but when it happens it can be a very horrific event for families and even communities. Back in 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted by Philip and Nancy Garrido for 18 years until she had been freed in August 2009. During her time kidnaped she had been frequently raped and impregnated twice which resulted in two daughters. Although Dugard’s case is considered extremely rare, it was a traumatic event that has been noted as one of the top kidnapping cases …show more content…

“Phillip Garrido pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and 13 counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to 431 years in prison” (Dooley, 2016). Phillip Garrido’s wife Nancy “plead to one count of kidnapping, one count of rape by force and California’s ‘one strike’ rape law which led to her sentence of 36 years to life in prison” (Dooley, 2016). Shortly after the incident, the Dugard family was awarded twenty-million dollars for failed parole supervision. Jaycee Dugard has grown and moved on from her incident with her two daughters. She has reported that it is easier to laugh about what has happened to her because it helps deter from the actual horrors she went through. Dugard has also given her daughters the permission to want to know him if they would like to with the comfort that as long as he is locked away her family would be safe. Since her kidnapping, Jaycee Dugard has published two books and is working on her

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