{"data":{"id":"us-ca/pen-278.5","jurisdiction":"us-ca","citation":"PEN § 278.5","heading":"","body":"(a) Every person who takes, entices away, keeps, withholds, or conceals a child and maliciously deprives a lawful custodian of a right to custody, or a person of a right to visitation, 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 16 months, or two or three years, a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that fine and imprisonment.\n(b) Nothing contained in this section limits the court’s contempt power.\n(c) A custody order obtained after the taking, enticing away, keeping, withholding, or concealing of a child does not constitute a defense to a crime charged under this section.","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":"fbc8db709544e920999ad115d296ff99d35e4b163894788c440962d8343a4832","source_id":"us-ca","stale":false,"prev":"us-ca/pen-278","next":"us-ca/pen-278.6"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}