Kidnappers and reoffending

Kidnapping is a rare crime compared with other crimes of violence and few studies of kidnapping have been published in the UK or the USA. A study of all 7,362 people convicted of kidnapping between 1979 and 2001 looked at the reconviction rates of kidnappers. It found that kidnappers were more likely to be convicted of another kidnapping offence than rape or murder. Within 20 years 5% of kidnappers were convicted of another kidnapping offence, 2% of rape and 1% of murder. The number of previous kidnappings was a significant risk factor as was the age at first kidnapping. Kidnappers are 30 times more likely than the rest of the population to murder someone and four times more likely than sex offenders to kill people.

Liu, Jiayi, Francis, Brian and Soothill, Keith - Kidnapping offenders: their risk of escalation to repeat offending and other serious crime Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology June 2008, 19(2), 139-147