Missouri Revised Statutes Title XXXVIII. Crimes and Punishment; Peace Officers and Public Defenders § 565.115. Child kidnapping--penalty

1. A person commits the offense of child kidnapping if he or she is not a relative of the child within the third degree and, knowing he or she has no right to do so, removes a child under the age of fourteen without consent of the child's parents or guardian, or confines such child for a substantial period of time without such consent.

2. In determining whether the child was removed or confined unlawfully, it is an affirmative defense that the person reasonably believed that the person's actions were necessary to preserve the child from danger to his or her welfare.

3. The offense of child kidnapping is a class A felony.