Legal Definitions - felonious restraint

Felonious restraint refers to the serious crime of unlawfully holding someone against their will. This legal term encompasses two primary situations:

• Unlawful detention with risk of harm: This occurs when an individual knowingly and illegally restrains another person under circumstances that expose the restrained person to a significant risk of serious physical injury.

• Involuntary servitude: This involves holding a person captive and compelling them to perform labor or services against their will, often through threats, coercion, or the withholding of their freedom.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of felonious restraint:

• Example 1 (Unlawful detention with risk of harm): Imagine a scenario where a disgruntled former employee ambushes their ex-boss, ties them up, and locks them inside a remote, abandoned warehouse known to have structural damage and no heating, during a severe winter storm. The former employee then leaves, intending to return much later. The act of unlawfully restraining the ex-boss in a dangerous, unheated environment, exposed to extreme cold and potential building collapse, creates a clear and serious risk of bodily harm, such as hypothermia or injury from falling debris. This situation would constitute felonious restraint.

• Example 2 (Involuntary servitude - human trafficking): Consider a case where a group of traffickers lures individuals from a vulnerable community with false promises of high-paying jobs abroad. Upon arrival in the foreign country, the traffickers confiscate the workers' passports, isolate them from outside communication, and threaten to harm their families back home if they do not work in a factory for extremely long hours with little to no pay. The workers are not allowed to leave, seek medical attention, or contact authorities. This act of holding individuals captive and forcing them to labor through coercion and threats, effectively denying them their freedom and exploiting their vulnerability, is a clear instance of felonious restraint.

• Example 3 (Involuntary servitude - domestic exploitation): A family hires a live-in caregiver for an elderly relative, promising a fair salary and reasonable working hours. However, once the caregiver moves in, the family takes her phone, restricts her ability to leave the house, and tells her she owes them a large sum for "relocation expenses" that she must work off. They pay her significantly less than minimum wage, deny her days off, and threaten to report her to immigration authorities if she tries to complain or leave. This constitutes felonious restraint because the caregiver is being held in a state of involuntary servitude, compelled to work against her will under duress and threats, effectively losing her freedom and autonomy.