Crimes against Children: D. Interfering with Custody. Discussion Paper 86-1D.

This document is one of six discussion papers prepared for the Wisconsin Legislative Council's Special Committee on Crimes Against Children. The introduction explains the committee's task of conducting a thorough examination of state laws relating to crimes against children, reviewing major policy issues affecting those laws to determine whether substantive changes are needed in various statutory provisions and reorganizing the laws. This paper deals specifically with the problem of interfering with custody. Part I covers the laws relating to the abduction of children, part II deals with the interfering with custody statutes, and part III discusses unauthorized placement for adoption. For each of these issues, there is a section explaining current law and a section giving suggestions for statutory revisions. Appendix 1 contains a chart setting forth the elements and penalty levels of various criminal statutes which relate, in full or in part, to the unlawful taking or concealing of a child. Appendix 2 contains copies of the statutes covered in the report, arranged in numerical order, and a copy of ss. 939.50 to 939.52, which prescribe the basic criminal penalty classification system used in the Criminal Code. (NB)