Sometimes a criminal lawyer defends a parent charged with abducting his or her own child.
Section 282 of the Criminal Code of Canada provides that abduction of a child under fourteen by the father, the mother or the legal guardian of the child in contravention of a custody order constitutes a criminal offence liable to a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment. The abduction is proven if the act was committed with the intention of depriving the other parent or the person having legal custody of possession of the child.
Abduction committed by either parent even without contravening a custody order is also an offence (Section 283 of the Criminal Code).
The lawyer defending the parent charged with abduction has to study certain means of defence, namely: Did the other parent consent to the actions committed? Were the actions taken in order to protect the child from an imminent danger or to protect the parent from such danger while the parent charged was in possession of the child? Does the client’s version contradict the version of the plaintiff parent? There are also other possible questions.
The child’s consent to the abduction does not constitute a valid defence.
Any parent charged with having abducted their own child should consult a criminal lawyer as soon as possible.
