The Federation Council of Russia approved the law on life imprisonment for pedophiles.

Earlier, the State Duma adopted the bill in the third reading.

Amendments are being made to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and provide for increased punishment for committing especially serious crimes against the sexual integrity of minors.

In accordance with the law, life imprisonment will be threatened for repeated sexual abuse of a minor, as well as if it was associated with another serious or especially serious crime, or committed against two or more children.

“The age of the victims is increasing: life imprisonment can be imposed for these crimes both in relation to persons under the age of 14 and in relation to persons aged 14 to 18,” the Federation Council noted.

The first deputy chairman of the Federation Council, Andrei Turchak, said that thanks to the law, it will be possible to permanently isolate serial pedophile criminals from society.

According to him, the goal of the law is not only to punish such criminals, but also to prevent such tragedies in principle.

“Anyone who decides to encroach on the sexual inviolability of a child must be aware that he will spend the rest of his days behind bars.

The next decision should be to change the very system of administrative supervision of pedophiles who are at large.

The state is obliged to control their every step.

Only in this way will our children, families and society be reliably protected,” the parliamentarian explained.

Member of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Olga Kovitidi, in an interview with RT, called the law relevant and noted that society was waiting for it.

She also stressed that pedophile serial offenders should be isolated from society for life.

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“Sexual crimes committed against minors cause minors not only serious physical, but also moral, psychological harm, as they humiliate their honor and dignity, sometimes causing a mental disorder in the victims,” the senator emphasized.

According to her, based on the degree of public danger of the crimes in question, expanding the potential of existing sanctions "will allow more effective use of life imprisonment as a punishment."

Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labour, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, also supported the bill. 

“Any sane person today is on the side of those forces that are fighting this phenomenon not only on the territory of Russia.

It seems to me that their persecution is necessary in all parts of our planet, ”said the deputy.

In turn, the speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, suggested studying the experience of other states in the use of chemical castration for pedophiles.

She recalled the tragedy of the murder of a five-year-old girl in Kostroma, committed with the participation of a recidivist pedophile, and called it an unacceptable situation when a man who had served time for a sexual offense was released and attacked the child again.

“These are already mentally ill people.

And, as you said, these are animals, these are non-humans.

Of course, they need to be isolated from society, ”Matvienko concluded.

Recall that in early January in Kostroma, a five-year-old girl went outside for a walk, from where she was taken by two men and disappeared in an unknown direction.

After some time, the child's body was found in a room in one of the city's dormitories.

As reported in the Investigative Committee, the detained men confessed to the murder of the child. 

One of them, a 45-year-old man, was convicted in 2017 of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of majority, as well as the illegal distribution of pornographic materials.

In March 2021, he was released from prison.

As the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin noted, the deputies are discussing the possibility of toughening the punishment for recidivist pedophiles, in particular, to suspend the statute of limitations for such crimes until the victim reaches the age of majority, and to send those convicted of pedophilia to hard work.

And about.

Yevgenia Minaeva, head of the department for procedural control over the investigation of certain types of crimes of the IC, said that the department supports the proposal to abolish the statute of limitations for crimes against young children under the age of majority of a child who has become a victim of violence.

“Analysis of our criminal cases, which are being investigated by the Investigative Committee, indicates that persons with sexual violence at an early age come to us after the age of 18.

Why is this happening?

Because a person can independently come and file an application with the police, the UK, and no longer need a guardian, ”she said.