Kidnapping [fr. kind, Dut., a child, and nap, to steal], the forcible abduction or stealing away of a man, woman, or child from their own country, and sending them into another. It is an offence punishable at Common Law by fine and imprisonment; and the kidnapping a child under fourteen is made felony by the (English) Offences against the Person Act, 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 100), s. 56.
See also (English) Pacific Islanders Protection Act, 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 19) (amended by 38 & 39 Vict. c. 51), for the prevention and punishment of criminal outrages upon natives of the islands in the Pacific Ocean.