{"data":{"id":"us-ca/pen-278","jurisdiction":"us-ca","citation":"PEN § 278","heading":"","body":"Every person, not having a right to custody, who maliciously takes, entices away, keeps, withholds, or conceals any child with the intent to detain or conceal that child from a lawful custodian shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or four years, a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that fine and imprisonment.","path":["Penal Code - PEN","PART 1. OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS [25. - 680.4.]","TITLE 9. OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON INVOLVING SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC DECENCY AND GOOD MORALS [261. - 368.7.]","CHAPTER 4. Child Abduction [277. - 280.]"],"source_url":"https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip","current_through":"2026-09-13","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T05:56:33Z","sha256":"612f8ee5fbf0b6ebedebb340499f2df53069b1a71b1b3307d3eb7b4b921402d7","source_id":"us-ca","stale":false,"prev":"us-ca/pen-277","next":"us-ca/pen-278.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}