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Russia's President has introduced to parliament a new bill, taking the responsibility for sex crimes against children in Russia to new heights, Itar Tass said Monday.

According to Dmitry Medvedev's initiative, rape of a minor should be penalized with eight to fifteen years' imprisonment. At present the prison term for rape of a child ranges between four and ten years.

A rape which results in unintentional manslaughter of a minor should land the criminal in prison for between twelve to twenty years, as opposed to the current term of eight to fifteen years.

The bill indicates the equality of homosexual and heterosexual rape, and states that offenders of both genders should be punished with equal severity.

Medvedev also proposes to reduce the possibility of early parole for pedophiles, a measure he has often made a point of in public speeches. According to the bill he has proposed, a criminal sentenced for sexual offense of a minor can only be released early after serving at least 75 percent of the term. Currently, there are no limits on early parole for child offenders.

According to the statistics voiced at a recent parliamentary session, the number of children who suffered a sexual offense has increased by almost 13 times as compared to 2003, and reached 2,184 children victims in 2008.

The amount of child pornography produced and sold has increased by ten times in the past few years, according to the Russian Interior Ministry, with at least 200,000 websites dealing in child pornography making at least $3 billion annually.