Criminal Justice System's Response to Parental Abduction

摘要

The expeditious return of a missing child who has been abducted is a critical step toward alleviating the trauma suffered by both child and parent. The active involvement of both law enforcement and criminal court officials is, of course, integral to attaining this desired goal. As research has demonstrated, the most prevalent form of child abduction in the United States is parental kidnapping. This Bulletin draws on findings of a study conducted for OJJDP by the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law and Westat to assess the criminal justice systems response to parental abduction. Parental abduction is a crime in all 50 States and in the District of Columbia and, in most cases, constitutes a felony. The OJJDP study reviewed all stages of the criminal justice system's response to this crime, including the reporting of the abduction, the investigation of the case, the finding and recovery of the victim, and the criminal prosecution of the perpetrator or perpetrators. To date, it is one of the most comprehensive studies of this issue. Children stand to benefit from a review of the study's findings by law enforcement and court officials and other representatives of the justice system.