ST 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
1. Committing depraved acts without the use of violence by a person who has reached the age of eighteen, in relation to a person under the age of sixteen, is punishable by compulsory labor for a term of up to four hundred and forty hours, or by restriction of freedom for a term of up to three years, or by forced labor for a term of up to five years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years or without it, or imprisonment for up to three years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to ten years or without it.
2. The same act committed against a person who has reached the age of twelve, but has not reached the age of fourteen, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to eight years, with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to fifteen years. and with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.
3. Acts provided for in parts one or two of this article, committed against two or more persons, are punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to twelve years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to twenty years.
4. Acts provided for in parts one, two or three of this article, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group, are punishable by imprisonment for a term of seven to fifteen years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to twenty years. or without it and with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.
5. The act provided for in part two of this article, committed by a person who has a criminal record for a previously committed crime against the sexual integrity of a minor, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of ten to fifteen years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to twenty years. .
What are depraved acts?
According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, indecent acts are an attack by an adult on the sexual integrity of minors without the use of violence.
What applies to depraved acts:
- display of photo and video materials with pornographic content;
- intimate conversations;
- inducing a child to commit sexual intercourse with an adult or another minor through persuasion and persuasion, but not through physical coercion;
- demonstration of genitals by an adult to a child and mutual.
Depraved behavior can manifest itself in different ways, but its essence always remains the same - inducing a minor to engage in sexual acts.
Exhibitionism
Exhibitionism is the intention of mentally ill people to expose their genitals in order to satisfy intimate needs. They mainly do this to continue to arouse themselves and masturbate, rather than to force the victim into sexual intercourse.
Exhibitionists rarely seek sexual contact and almost never cause physical harm to their victims.
There are several types of exhibitionism - false (hooligan action) and true (the presence of mental illness in a person, lack of ability to control oneself during exacerbations of the disease).
True exhibitionism is a mental illness established at the official level. It requires long-term treatment under the supervision of specialists. Additionally, exhibitionists may suffer from behavioral and personality disorders.
Expert opinion
Novikov Igor Timofeevich
Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Law teacher.
Statistics show that the prevalence of exhibitionism in men is up to 4%, in women the figures are lower. The victims of exhibitionists are mainly children and women.
Depraved acts – Article 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation devoted to attacks on the sexual integrity of minors do not allow loyalty to such criminals.
Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation states that the criminal in this case is an adult (18 years or older), and his victim is a minor.
In order for a person who has committed depraved acts to be considered a criminal in accordance with the mentioned article, he must be fully aware that the actions he commits are criminally punishable. That is, when harassing a child, the offender must not only be aware of the minority of his victim, but this fact must also be his main motivation for breaking the law.
During the trial, the motives and feelings of the criminal will be taken into account as a secondary factor and are unlikely to help in mitigating the punishment.
Important! If indecent assault resulted in sexual intercourse, the victim's consent, or lack thereof, will be a fundamental factor in sentencing. Depending on this, the court will decide whether the offender will be convicted under Art. 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (sexual intercourse with minors) or under Art. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 131 (rape).
In Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation specifies various aggravating factors: corruption of a child under 14 and 12 years of age, a crime committed against several children or a group of persons. If the offender has already been previously convicted under the same article, the punishment will be more severe.
Comments to Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
In the comments to Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation specifies that indecent acts can be not only physical, but also intellectual (display of pornographic literature and films or communication on sexual topics). Physical ones include exposure of genitals, obscene gestures, inducement to obscenity.
Actions of an attacker that arouse an unhealthy sexual desire in a minor are also criminally prosecuted, despite the fact that they are not associated with physical contact. The reason is that such acts corrupt minors and negatively affect their development.
What does judicial practice show under this article?
Expert opinion
Novikov Igor Timofeevich
Legal consultant with 6 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Law teacher.
Alas, in practice this article appears very often. Seducers are persons engaged in professional activities, step-parents, close relatives, friends, neighbors.
- Citizen Sh. was married to a woman with a child. The girl was 12 years old, she developed as a girl early. Sh. was sexually attracted to her, which he regularly showed by exposing his penis in front of her and showing pornography. The girl complained to her mother, but she did not react, then she turned to her grandmother for help, and she filed a statement with the police. It turned out that Sh. was indeed guilty. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison and banned from working at school for 10 years.
- Citizen P. was involved with social networks at work. He found teenagers there, corresponded with them, sending first innocent pictures, and then pornographic images. He once sent a 15-year-old girl an image of his genitals. The girl's mother saw this and contacted the police. P. was quickly found. The court took into account that his actions were minor in severity, and besides, he repented of what he had done. As a result, he received 350 hours of compulsory labor and a fine.
- Citizen F. worked as a coach in a youth basketball team. After training, she repeatedly communicated with some boys on sexual topics and showed them explicit images. She chatted with one of them and sent images of her genitals. The boy turned to the police for help because he was afraid of further developments. The court found F. guilty, sentenced her to 4 years in prison and correctional labor, and deprived her of her position.
What decisions are made under Article 135?
The article makes guilty decisions more often than acquittals, since in most cases the adult, and not the child, is found guilty. In 2021, almost 400 cases were processed under it, of which the majority (171) were under the first part, and the smaller part (6) were under the fifth part.
1 person was acquitted, almost 250 went to prison, 18 were given suspended sentences, 509 received restrictions of liberty, 1 received a fine, 77 received compulsory labor. 24 people were declared insane.
What are aggravating and mitigating circumstances?
Depraved acts are not just an expression that can characterize the behavior of the subject. This definition is usually understood as those actions that are aimed at arousing sexual desire or inducing another person into sexual relations, usually against his will.
In most cases, the sanction under the article for indecent acts is imposed on the person who committed this outrage against a minor. Moreover, it is important to understand that criminal liability will arise even if the minor has indicated his consent.
Proof of a crime
A crime committed under Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, must include full awareness of the offender’s own actions of an erotic nature, the sexual immaturity of the victim, and the absence of violent actions on the part of the perpetrator, which does not exclude the outcome in the form of sexual intercourse.
If a crime is committed, they contact the police with a statement of indecent acts against a minor. This is usually done by the parent or guardian of the affected child.
After accepting the application, law enforcement officers, psychologists and doctors interrogate the victim and examine the minor in a medical institution for any signs of sexual activity (if the case was not limited to indecent acts, but there was also sexual intercourse).
There must be a person suspected of the offense during the proceedings. If there is no sincere confession on his part to the crime committed (and it is absent in almost all cases), then there must be irrefutable evidence incriminating the criminal.
If there are none, then law enforcement officers conduct a series of searches to find evidence. This is a mandatory point, since there are often cases when accusations from the injured party are false and made with the aim of harming an innocent person or demanding monetary compensation from him.
Qualification
In any criminal proceedings the concepts of “subject” and “object” appear. The subject is a person who has reached the age of 18, that is, an adult who commits indecent acts towards a child under the age of 16. The object in this case is the sexual integrity of the child.
Important
When considering this category of atrocities, the presence of family ties between the perpetrator and the minor is decisive. If it turns out that they are husband and wife and are in a registered marriage, this will mean that there is no corpus delicti. If the depraved acts were committed before the official marriage, then the perpetrator is subject to prosecution.
In addition, the marriageable age in many regions of our country has been reduced to 14 years. This is allowed in cases where a woman is expecting a child. In some regions the age has been reduced to fifteen years. In the case where two people, sixteen and eighteen years old, are officially married, there can be no talk of criminal liability here. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the fact that Article 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes the age of the victim to sixteen years. This means that once achieved, the perpetrator is not liable.
Responsibility
For indecent acts towards minors Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation implies significant punishment:
- compulsory work up to 440 hours;
- restriction of freedom up to three years;
- forced labor (with a ban on holding certain positions) for up to five years;
- imprisonment (with the same ban on certain work activities) for up to three years.
If a child under 14 years of age is injured, the punishment will be harsher:
- imprisonment (with deprivation of the right to hold certain official positions) from three to eight years;
- prohibition from engaging in certain activities for up to 15 years;
- restriction of freedom for up to two years.
Corruption of several children at once is punishable by:
- imprisonment from 5 to 12 years;
- a ban on certain types of work for up to 20 years.
A crime committed by a group of persons will lead to:
- imprisonment from 7 to 15 years;
- a ban on certain types of work for up to 20 years;
- restriction of freedom for up to two years.
If someone who has already been previously convicted under Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the punishment will be as follows:
- imprisonment from 10 to 15 years;
- ban on certain types of work for up to 20 years.
The victim's consent to any actions committed by the criminal will not mitigate his punishment.
How to bring a criminal to justice
A citizen who is 18 years of age or older can be held criminally liable for indecent assault.
To punish the attacker, you need to write a statement to the police. This can be done by the child's parents or guardians. The statement states:
- the name of the police department to which the applicant is applying;
- Full name and position of the person in whose name the application is made;
- personal information and telephone number of the applicant indicating who the victim is;
- circumstances of the case: time, place, actions of the criminal;
- the name or description of the offender, if it is a stranger;
- date and signature.
After accepting the application, the victim must be examined by a doctor. Only a specialist can give an opinion about the child’s health condition and whether he has any injuries.
Also, during the investigation, police officers take the child’s testimony in the presence of a psychologist, then examine his place of residence and talk with his parents. When the criminal is found, the case will be sent to court for further proceedings.
