Ombudsman accuses ‘pedophilia lobby’ for liberalization of anti-pedophile laws

Pavel Astakhov, head of the Children’s Rights Protection Department in the Presidential Administration, has blamed the pedophilia lobbyists in the State Duma for filibustering bills aimed at toughening punishments for pedophilia in Russia. “Everyone in the State Duma understands the necessity to install a barrier against pedophiles, but when discussing such bills some legislators are always against them. In this regard, I ask myself a question: do we have a pedophilia lobby, which finances and opposes the adoption of relevant laws? I don’t think I’m very far from the truth.”