Corruption of minors, Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was created to prohibit, under threat of punishment, sexual intercourse, an act of sodomy or lesbianism committed with a boy or girl who has not reached the age of 16.
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Qualification nuances
To qualify a criminal act means to identify in the actions or inaction of a person all the necessary fragments (signs, elements) of a criminal offense and reasonably correlate them with a specific article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation included in the special part.
Article 134 (like all others) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation describes the elements of criminal offenses, including:
- Object – what is being harmed or can be harmed.
- The objective side is a set of specific actions, objects with the help of which the act is committed, as well as the consequences.
- The subjective side is how the criminal feels about the offense committed or being committed.
- Subject is an individual who has committed or is committing a criminal act.
The qualification process is widespread and is used by both lawyers and ordinary people who, to one degree or another, come into contact with criminal law.
What is harmed and who is the victim?
According to the comments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the object of the crime is the health and integrity of a person’s sexual integrity; physical and moral development and education of minors.
Victims (victims) from such criminal attacks, within the meaning of article number 134 of the criminal law of Russia, are only minors, the so-called juveniles, and minors. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not provide a definition of the categories “minor” and “minor”, thereby referring to other legislative acts (Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and others).
Although the article in question quite clearly indicates the age limits of protected persons:
- a boy or girl in the age range from 14 to 16 years;
- boy or girl in the age range of 12 to 14 years.
Important: adolescents who have been harmed must objectively evaluate and correctly perceive what is happening to them.
In addition, it is necessary for them to express their good will (consent) to enter into an intimate relationship or to take the initiative for this kind of intimacy. If in fact the situation is different, the actions of the accused (accused) should be regarded as sexual violence against a helpless person accordingly and qualified under a more serious article.
How is a criminal act committed and its consequences?
The composition of this criminal perversion is classified as formal. This means that for a criminal offense to be considered completed, the consequences (pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, etc.) are completely optional.
The tort is considered to have occurred simultaneously with the beginning of the actions listed in the disposition of the article:
- Sexual intercourse (intercourse).
- Act of sodomy.
- The act of lesbianism.
These terms do not belong to the legal category.
Their definition falls within the competence of medical science – sexology. Sexual intercourse is physical intimacy between people of different sexes, accompanied by the insertion of the male genital organ into the vagina and suggesting the possibility of procreation (pregnancy).
Sodomy is physical intimacy between male homosexuals, accompanied by the insertion of the male genital organ of the active partner into the rectum of the passive one.
Lesbianism is physical intimacy between female homosexuals, accompanied by the satisfaction of sexual needs through physical contact with the partner’s genitals.
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition, the type and absence of any coercion (violent actions, threats, etc.) is a mandatory component of the construction of the objective side of the criminal offense provided for in Art. 134 of the criminal law of Russia. If a judge or investigator establishes a different act, it must be classified as more serious.
If, due to circumstances beyond the control of the attacker (someone placed him, was physically unable to commit sexual intercourse, etc.), the crime did not take place, an attempt takes place.
Preparation is considered to be the deliberate creation of the environment or necessary conditions for pedophilia. For example, an attacker makes an appointment with the victim via the Internet or in another way, but he does not come for some reason.
How does the criminal feel about the act and what motivates him?
The article for pedophilia provides for the possibility of committing a criminal act only with direct intent.
This form of guilt involves:
- awareness of the illegality and punishability of the act committed in full;
- foreseeing the inevitability of harm to the interests of the child;
- desire to commit a prohibited act.
Important: the materials of the criminal case must contain sufficient evidence that the offender had information about the age of the child or consciously admitted that he (she) had not reached the age of sixteen.
The motivation that prompted the crime is not particularly important. As a rule, such subjects are driven by the need to satisfy perverted sexual desires.
Who commits the crime?
Persons subject to liability for perversions of this type are sane adult men and women.
Important: reaching the age of majority at the time of the tort is an essential condition. In the absence of other conditions, sexual contacts between minors are not criminal. Alcohol or drug intoxication at the time of the offense does not affect qualifications.
What the law says
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CC RF) provides for five articles aimed at suppressing illegal acts against young citizens.
Chapter 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is devoted to the inviolability and sexual freedom of the individual:
- Article 131 - commission of rape. Forcing a person to have sexual intercourse through intimidation or taking advantage of the helpless state of the victim. The 3rd paragraph establishes punishment for molestation of a minor, and the 4th - children under 14 years of age.
- Article 132 - forced actions of a sexual nature, including homosexual ones.
- Article 133 - inducement to sexual acts through blackmail, threats or financial dependence of the victim.
- Article 134 - intimate relations with a child under sixteen years of age.
- Article 135 – harassment of children aged twelve to sixteen years.
Article 131 occupies a special position in legislation. It applies in cases of sexual intercourse with a person under 12 years of age. According to the decree, such actions amount to rape, even if the intimacy was consensual. This is due to the fact that children are unable to fully comprehend what is happening.
Qualified (more serious) types of seduction
The legislator has provided for circumstances under which the “degree” of public danger of prohibited actions increases significantly:
- Sexual intimacy with a minor - a boy or girl in the age range from 12 to 14 years.
- Seduction of two or more victims.
- Committing a crime by a group.
- Recidivism in relation to a boy (girl) aged 12 to 14 years – an intimate relationship of a minor with a person convicted of a criminal offense of a similar nature.
Persons who violate the law in the above cases face a significantly more severe measure of state coercion (punishment).
Legal comment
When considering a case of corruption of a minor, it is necessary to take into account all the factors that led to the fact that the person began to harass. The whole point is in the subjectivity of the crime, because an adult might not even know that in front of him is a citizen who has not reached an acceptable age.
If an adult obviously had no idea about the true age of the partner, and this is proven by an examination of appearance, then the court will classify the offense as socially harmless, and will either release him from punishment or impose short-term forced labor.
For harassment of an incapacitated person who cannot account for what is happening, the attacker is punishable under Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (rape).
Punishment for pedophilia
The article for seducing minors and minors (its sanction) includes a fairly wide variable range of possible types of punishments - both those associated with isolation from society, and less severe ones.
For clarity, we differentiate them depending on the term of imprisonment specified in the article for each type of pedophilia:
- up to 4 years – sexual intercourse (intercourse);
- under 6 years of age – a single case of sodomy or lesbianism;
- from 3 to 10 years – sexual intimacy with a boy or girl aged 12 to 14 years;
- from 8 to 15 years – sexual contact with two or more victims;
- from 12 to 20 years – committing a crime by a group;
- from 15 to 20 years or life imprisonment - recidivism in relation to the victim boy (girl) aged 12 to 14 years.
When determining the amount of punishment, the legislator was guided by the degree of social danger of each specific type of pedophilia and the personality of the offender: the greater the harm caused by the crime, the stricter the punishment.
Conditions for release from punishment or its mitigation
In certain cases, the law provides the opportunity to avoid punishment (not to be confused with “avoiding responsibility”), and also allows for its assignment not related to isolation from society and referral to a correctional facility.
A person who seduces a minor may be released from punishment if the following necessary conditions are met:
- Sexual intercourse (intercourse) with the victim (victim) in the age range from 14 to 16 years took place for the first time.
- The person who violated the law and the victim (victim) were married.
In practice, the courts are aware of many cases when, during the investigation or trial, the victim (victim) reached the age required by law and entered into marriage with the person who seduced them. Obviously, in this case, the personality of the person who has broken the law and the damage caused to public interests lose their former danger. This is the reason for the introduction of this form of active repentance into the article.
When considering criminal cases involving non-violent sexual contacts with minors, courts are also obliged to exclude the possibility of applying punishment associated with being sent to a correctional facility in the following cases:
- sexual intercourse with the victim (victim) in the age range from 14 to 16 years occurred for the first time;
- the age difference between the victim (victim) and the person who violated the law does not exceed four years.
It is probably advisable to use a punishment less severe than imprisonment in this case; the legislator associates it with the traditionally negative views established in society on sexual intimacy between partners with a large age difference.
Arbitrage practice
There are quite a lot of problems in applying punishment under Articles 134 and 135. Most of the problems lie in the area of the need to correctly designate a criminal violation. Legitimate sexual individual integrity as a standard object of criminal action often manifests itself exclusively in rape.
During the investigation, the investigative authorities are obliged to identify as accurately as possible the fact of coercion or that the victim agreed to sexual contact of his own free will. At the same time, it can be very difficult to establish the truth; there are no witnesses in such cases. Only the testimony of the victim is taken into account.
The legislation provides for exemption from punishment in such cases. We are talking about marriage, which is possible only from the age of 16. In other situations, the perpetrator is sent to prison. In most situations, after serving their sentences, couples register their marriage.
If the investigation does not prove the fact of pedophilia, the perpetrators receive a short prison sentence. If a person is found to have pedophilia, he is given a longer sentence with mandatory medical treatment.
At the moment, there is a significant expansion of the personal freedom of adolescents and their comprehensive development through the Internet. Children begin to grow up quite early and enter into sexual relationships. And they often don't realize that their more senior partners can get real sentences.
