Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title I Chapter 265
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 26 (2026)

Kidnapping; weapons; child under age 16; punishment

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 26. Whoever, without lawful authority, forcibly or secretly confines or imprisons another person within this commonwealth against his will, or forcibly carries or sends such person out of this commonwealth, or forcibly seizes and confines or inveigles or kidnaps another person, with intent either to cause him to be secretly confined or imprisoned in this commonwealth against his will, or to cause him to be sent out of this commonwealth against his will or in any way held to service against his will, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and imprisonment in jail for not more than two years. Whoever commits any offence described in this section with the intent to extort money or other valuable thing thereby shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years.

Whoever commits any offense described in this section while armed with a firearm, as defined in section 121 of chapter 140, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than ten years or in the house of correction for not more than two and one-half years. The provisions of the preceding sentence shall not apply to the parent of a child under 18 years of age who takes custody of such child. Whoever commits such offense described in this section while being armed with a firearm with the intent to extort money or other valuable thing thereby shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years but not less than 20 years.

Whoever commits any offense described in this section while armed with a dangerous weapon and inflicts serious bodily injury thereby upon another person or who sexually assaults such person shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than 25 years. For purposes of this paragraph the term ''serious bodily injury'' shall mean bodily injury which results in a permanent disfigurement, protracted loss or impairment of a bodily function, limb or organ or substantial risk of death. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ''sexual assault'' shall mean the commission of any act set forth in sections 13B, 13B1/2, 13B3/4, 13F, 13H, 22, 22A, 22B, 22C, 23, 23A, 23B, 24 or 24B.

Whoever, without lawful authority, forcibly or secretly confines or imprisons a child under the age of 16 within the commonwealth against his will or forcibly carries or sends such person out of the commonwealth or forcibly seizes and confines or inveigles or kidnaps a child under the age of 16 with the intent either to cause him to be secretly confined or imprisoned in the commonwealth against his will or to cause him to be sent out of the commonwealth against his will or in any way held to service against his will, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 15 years. The provisions of the preceding sentence shall not apply to the parent of a child under 16 years of age who takes custody of such child.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 150 cases (23 in the last 5 years), 1926–2026 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Fredette, 101 N.E.3d 277 (Mass. 2018).
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Commonwealth v. Fredette, 101 N.E.3d 277 (Mass. 2018). · cites it 20× “" G. L. c. 265, § 26, third par. The defendant appealed and, after his appeal was entered in this court, he filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the trial judge erred in not providing a merger doctrine instruction to the jury sua sponte.”
Commonwealth v. Oberle, 69 N.E.3d 993 (Mass. 2017). · cites it 3× “265, § 13A (a), and a kidnapping conviction, G. L. c. 265, § 26, arising out of an incident of domestic violence.”
United States v. Gonzalez-Ramirez, 477 F.3d 310 (5th Cir. 2007). · cites it 3× “Law § 3-502(a) (Lexis Nexis 2002); Mass. Gen Laws Ann. ch. 265, § 26 (West 2000); Miss.”
Commonwealth v. McCoy, 926 N.E.2d 1143 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 2× “" G. L. c. 265, § 26. Rape, as charged in this case, also is defined by statute: "Whoever has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a person and compels such person to submit by force and against [her] will, or compels such person to submit by threat of bodily…”
Commonwealth v. Wilcox, 891 N.E.2d 708 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). · cites it 5× “265, § 22(a); kidnapping, G. L. c. 265, § 26; and aggravated assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, G.”
Commonwealth v. Rivera, 949 N.E.2d 916 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 4× “*142 The crime of attempted kidnapping requires, in relevant part, the intent to “forcibly or secretly” confine or imprison another person “against his will,” G. L. c. 265, § 26, and an overt act toward the commission of the crime, G.”
Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 982 N.E.2d 1215 (Mass. App. Ct. 2013). · cites it 5× “265, *268 § 22(a); kidnapping aggravated by sexual assault, G. L. c. 265, § 26, third par.; and indecent assault and battery, G.”
United States v. Marlon Flores-Granados, 783 F.3d 487 (4th Cir. 2015). · cites it 2× “5/10-1; Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 26 ; Or.Rev.Stat.”
Commonwealth v. Colon, 726 N.E.2d 909 (Mass. 2000). · cites it 5× “The defendant, Antonio Colon, was indicted for kidnapping a twelve year old girl in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 26. He moved to dismiss the indictment, contending that the Commonwealth failed to present evidence that the kidnapping was “against her will.”
Commonwealth v. Cohen, 921 N.E.2d 906 (Mass. 2010). “The jury acquitted the defendant of three other crimes arising out of the same set of facts: kidnapping, G. L. c. 265, § 26; conflict of interest, G.”
Commonwealth v. Silva, 447 N.E.2d 646 (Mass. 1983). · cites it 2× “266, § 28, or kidnapping under G.L.c. 265, § 26. We think it is clear that the crime of larceny of a motor vehicle need not be dangerous to life.”
Commonwealth v. Williams, 60 N.E.3d 335 (Mass. 2016). “265, § 1; kidnapping, G. L. c. 265, § 26; armed robbery, G. L. c.”
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— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 26(c) — 1 case
Gould v. Mitchell (D. Mass. 2022).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.