Penal Law § 135.45

Custodial interference in the second degree · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 135.45 Custodial interference in the second degree.

A person is guilty of custodial interference in the second degree when:

1. Being a relative of a child less than sixteen years old, intending to hold such child permanently or for a protracted period, and knowing that he has no legal right to do so, he takes or entices such child from his lawful custodian; or

2. Knowing that he has no legal right to do so, he takes or entices from lawful custody any incompetent person or other person entrusted by authority of law to the custody of another person or institution.

Custodial interference in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/135.45

In plain English

A person commits second-degree custodial interference by:

(1) as a relative of a child under 16 years old, taking or enticing the child from the lawful custodian, intending to hold the child permanently or for a long time and knowing there is no legal right; or
(2) knowingly without legal right taking or enticing an incompetent person or another person legally entrusted to someone or an institution from lawful custody. ★

It is a class A misdemeanor.

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.

In print

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.