Penal Code § 278.5 PC – Deprivation of Custody

According to California Penal Code §278.5 PC, deprivation of custody refers to any situation in which a person, often a parent, unlawfully takes, keeps, or conceals a child, thereby violating another parent’s legal right to custody or visitation. Although this may only appear to apply in severe abduction cases, even retaining a child beyond the stipulated time after an agreed visit may have legal implications. The law is complex, and it demands that there is evidence of ill intent; that is, the action must be done intentionally...