If you have been arrested for kidnapping or unlawful restraint, then you need to hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer who can provide the best legal defense for a violent crime.
If you unlawfully restrain a person then you can be convicted of a class A misdemeanor. However, if the person restrained is under the age of seventeen then the offense is elevated to a state jail felony. If you expose the restrained person to a substantial risk of serious bodily injury, then the charge can be enhanced to a third-degree felony.
If you remove the restrained person then you could be convicted of kidnapping which a third-degree felony. If you kidnap a person with the intent to terrorize them, hold them for ransom, use as a human shield or hostage, or if you use deadly weapon to facilitate the abduction, then you can be convicted of aggravated kidnaping which is a first-degree felony.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits assault as defined in Sec. 22.01 and the person: (1) causes serious bodily injury to another, including the person’s spouse; or (2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault. (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if: (1) the actor uses a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault and causes serious bodily injury to a person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code; (2) regardless of whether the offense is committed under Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), the offense is committed: (A) by a public servant acting under color of the servant’s office or employment; (B) against a person the actor knows is a public servant while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or performance of an official duty as a public servant; (C) in retaliation against or on account of the service of another as a witness, prospective witness, informant, or person who has reported the occurrence of a crime; or (D) against a person the actor knows is a security officer while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer; or (3) the actor is in a motor vehicle, as defined by Section 501.002, Transportation Code, and: (A) knowingly discharges a firearm at or in the direction of a habitation, building, or vehicle; (B) is reckless as to whether the habitation, building, or vehicle is occupied; and (C) in discharging the firearm, causes serious bodily injury to any person. (c) The actor is presumed to have known the person assaulted was a public servant or a security officer if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person’s employment as a public servant or status as a security officer. (d) In this section, “security officer” means a commissioned security officer as defined by Section 1702.002, Occupations Code, or a noncommissioned security officer registered under Section 1702.221, Occupations Code.