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Police pushing for harsher punishment for sex with under-16-year-old children

The interior ministry has drawn up a draft law introducing harsher punishment for adults who have sex with children under 16 years of age, Syarhey Kaltun, deputy head of the criminal police's drug control and human trafficking department, told reporters in Minsk on October 17.

He said that the bill would extend the maximum term of imprisonment for sex with an under-16-year-old person from five to 10 years.

In addition, the police consider making the collection and possession of child pornography a criminal offense, he said.

In the first nine months of this year, the police in Belarus detected 22 crimes connected with the production or distribution of child pornography, according to the official.

Fifty-three suspected pedophiles were identified by police officers from January through September. //BelaPAN