Vermont Statutes Title 13 Sec. 2451
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 13 Sec. 2451
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 2451. Custodial interference
(a) A person commits custodial interference by taking, enticing, or keeping a child from the child’s lawful custodian, knowingly, without a legal right to do so, when the person is a relative of the child and the child is less than 18 years old.
(b) A person who commits custodial interference shall be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than $5,000.00, or both.
(c) It shall be a defense to a charge of keeping a child from the child’s lawful custodian that the person charged with the offense was acting in good faith to protect the child from real and imminent physical danger. Evidence of good faith shall include the filing of a nonfrivolous petition documenting that danger and seeking to modify the custodial decree in a Vermont court of competent jurisdiction. This petition must be filed within three business days of the termination of visitation rights. This defense shall not be available if the person charged with the offense has left the State with the child. (Added 1979, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 24, 1980; amended 2017, No. 11, § 25.)