He was 36 years old when he began a sexual relationship with 13 year old Lidia Pereprygina. He impregnated her and the baby died. When she fell pregnant again, he ran away and left her to raise the child alone. Lidia was not the only victim. According to various testimonies from the book Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore, Stalin had a pattern of pursuing underage girls.
Lidia Pereprygina had barely entered puberty when Stalin raped her. Its quite understandable why so many have labeled Joseph Stalin a pedophile. Even in the crumbling Russian Empire, the age of consent was 14. Meaning both legally and morally, Lidia Pereprygina could not consent. Stalin committed statutory rape.
