Unlawful imprisonment; defense · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 135.15 Unlawful imprisonment; defense.
In any prosecution for unlawful imprisonment, it is an affirmative defense that (a) the person restrained was a child less than sixteen years old, and (b) the defendant was a relative of such child, and (c) his sole purpose was to assume control of such child.
In an unlawful-imprisonment prosecution, it is an affirmative defense that the restrained person was a child under 16 years old, the defendant was the child’s relative, and the defendant acted solely to assume control of the child. ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.