Section 49: Abduction of children in care etc.

Children Act 1989 · 1989 c. 41View on legislation.gov.uk

Part V: Protection of Children

A person shall be guilty of an offence if, knowingly and without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, he—

takes a child to whom this section applies away from the responsible person;
keeps such a child away from the responsible person; or
induces, assists or incites such a child to run away or stay away from the responsible person.

This section applies in relation to a child who is—

in care;
the subject of an emergency protection order; or
in police protection,

and in this section "the responsible person" means any person who for the time being has care of him by virtue of the care order, the emergency protection order, or section 46, as the case may be.

A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

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This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.