The State Duma at the plenary session adopted in the II and III readings a bill on life imprisonment for recidivist pedophiles. It is specified that the bill was finally approved by the lower house of parliament.
A bill to tighten criminal liability for pedophiles was submitted to the Duma in early September last year. The initiative was supported by the government. At the end of December 2021, the deputies approved the bill in the first reading.
The document proposes to change Articles 131 and 132 of the Criminal Code. Under current regulations, a pedophile can receive life imprisonment as a maximum penalty if the victim is under 14 years of age. The bill proposes to extend the maximum punishment to all cases where the victim was a minor, that is, to add cases when she was between 14 and 18 years old.
The authors of the initiative also proposed to condemn for life those who have already been convicted of sexual crimes against children. In addition, the deputies offer life imprisonment for those guilty of a crime in which more than one child suffered, or if violence against minors was associated with other serious crimes. Also, the State Duma proposed to expand the use of a life sentence for pedophiles. It is clarified that life imprisonment will be threatened for especially serious crimes against the sexual inviolability of minors, regardless of their age.
One of the authors of the initiative, First Vice Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak, explained that the legislation must be changed, because now it almost always gives pedophiles a second chance.
