MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. A bill proposing life imprisonment for convicted pedophiles has been put forward to the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) on Wednesday, said Duma Deputy Speaker Irina Yarovaya, who heads a group working on the draft law.

"The bill specifies that sexual offences against children under 14, which result in severe damage to their health, will be punishable by life imprisonment," she said.

Yarovaya pointed out that such crimes were reported later in time because people prefer to keep them in secret, while children facing continuous harm are psychologically distraught. This is the reason why the bill makes it possible to extend the statute of limitations for crimes against minors until they come of age, she said.

The bill for the first time stipulates an additional aggravating factor, recorded when a crime is committed by those living together with kids and teenagers or responsible for their upbringing, education and protection of their rights, Yarovaya said.

The document also considers spreading pornography among children over the Internet as an aggravating factor, and stipulates liability for coercing minors into sexual acts via the Internet. "Besides, we assume that a psychologist may be present while investigators question children," the Duma deputy speaker added.