MOSCOW, October 19 (RAPSI) - Deputy Speaker of the parliament’s lower house Irina Yarovaya proposed to fix life sentence as the punishment for sex crimes against children under 12 during the workshop panel in the State Duma on Thursday.

According to statistics quoted by Yarovaya, in the first half of 2017, investigators opened over 7,000 criminal cases over sexual assault against minors. The number of these crimes increased by 1,000 compared to the same period of 2016.

About 2,000 minors out of 5,000 suffered from acts of violence. Moreover, 838 children under 10 fell victims to sexual abuse, including 155 assaulted by parents, she said.

A complex bill has been already drafted to protect children against sexual crimes, Yarovaya added.