Russia Opens Criminal Case Over Videos Of Children Conversing With Gays

MOSCOW -- Prosecutors in Moscow have opened a criminal investigation into a YouTube channel called Real Talk over two videos in which a group of children ask questions of representatives of Russia's gay community, according to a November 2 statement by Valentina Dekhtyarenko of the Pravozashchity Otkrytki human rights organization.

According to Dekhtyarenko, prosecutors have filed the case under Article 132 of the Criminal Code, which covers "violent acts of a sexual nature."

In September Russian state media reported that State Duma deputy speaker Pyotr Tolstoi had asked law enforcement officials to look into the videos, one of which featured a former porn actress. He called the videos "amoral" and "ethically impermissible."

Last month, the producer of the video was given an administrative citation for violating Russia's law on "propagandizing" nontraditional lifestyles to minors.

At the time, it was also reported that police were considering bringing criminal charges for immoral actions and enticing minors into dangerous activities.

Dekhtyarenko stated that the parents of the children in the videos had no complaints. The mothers of at least two of the children were threatened by investigators with the loss of their parental rights, she added.

In June 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed the so-called gay-propaganda law, which has been widely criticized by rights activists in Russia and abroad. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the law discriminates against gays.