DALERIO

The crime of kidnapping requires the unlawful movement of the victim by force or fear. California courts have wrestled with the degree of force necessary to establish the kidnapping of an unresisting infant or young child, and our Supreme Court has concluded that the requisite force “is simply the amount of physical force required to take and carry the child away a substantial distance for an illegal purpose or with an illegal intent.” (In re Michele D. (2002) 29 Cal.4th 600, 610 [ 128 Cal.Rptr.2d 92 , 59 P.3d 164 ].) The Legislature then codified this holding in Penal Code section 207, subdivision (e) (hereafter section 207(e)). Defendant, Michael Jiovanni Dalerio, deceived a nine-year-old child into voluntarily accompanying him and then physically escorted the child a substantial distance before attempting to kill her. In the published portion of our opinion, we conclude that this conduct constitutes a kidnapping under section 207(e).

Factual Background

The nine-year-old victim testified that on the morning of July 9, 2004, she saw defendant outside the home of her neighbors, minors Desiree and Dillon. When she asked defendant, whom she knew, if Desiree and Dillon…