Pedophilia

SIGNIFICANCE: Psychiatric disorders create many difficult problems for the criminal justice system. Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder that has entered the legal system as a major public safety issue and is being dealt with accordingly.

The term pedophilia has its roots in the Greek words for child (paido) and love (philos), and the term’s basic definition is childlove. The word was introduced into the English language in 1886 in a distinguished work on the psychopathology of human sexuality by psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. In the modern medical profession, pedophilia has long been viewed as a mental disability. Psychiatry has viewed pedophilia in a similar way—as a diagnosable disorder that should be treated medically, either through medication or psychiatric treatment, such as cognitive-behavior therapy. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) classifies pedophilia as a form of paraphilia, the general term for conditions in which one becomes sexually aroused by objects, situations, or other persons in unusual or socially unacceptable ways.

Persons diagnosed as pedophiles must be over the age of sixteen and be experiencing chronic intense sexual fantasies, urges, or behavior toward prepubescent children—those under the age of about thirteen. Moreover, the symptoms must last for at least six months and either disturb the sufferer greatly or impair the person’s day-to-day functioning. Sexual attraction toward children is not related to sexual orientation and is not defined by the sex of the objects of pedophilia. Male pedophiles may be primarily attracted to prepubescent boys and at the same time be married to women and have children of their own. This fact led to an uproar when it was disovered that the APA had classified pedophilia as a sexual orientation in its newest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders released in 2013. Shortly after this revision was pointed out, the APA called the classification an error. The prevalence rate of pedophilia is unknown, especially because many pedophiles do not seek help or acknowledge their disorder because of its taboo nature.

Pedophilic Associations

Many organizations promote the idea of sexual relations between adults and children. Such organizations are often monitored by law enforcement because of their possible links to pedophilia and sex offenses. In encouraging sexual relationships between adults and children, members of such associations advocate lowering the age of consent or legalizing all sexual acts between children and adults.

To true pedophiles, having sexual desire for children is not something to be ashamed of. They often see it as a beautiful expression of their love for a child. Pedophiles are known for surrounding themselves with children by working closely with them. Many coach sports or work as camp counselors or teachers and do not understand why society considers their sexual feelings and behaviors abnormal and wrong. Moreover, these organizations generally believe that the rights of the children themselves are being violated by not allowing them to choose to engage in sexual relationships with adults. Pedophiles who are asked about the devastating physical and emotional effects that sexual abuse has on children are apt to reply that they personally do not condone abuse and that the relationships with children they seek are purely consensual. However, the rebuttal to this assertion is that children, because of their immaturity, are incapable of consenting to such relationships. Therefore, all sexual contact between adults and children is abusive and may cause irreparable harm to children.

When Jared Fogle, a famous former spokesperson for the sandwich chain Subway, was convicted of possessing child pornography and paying to have a sexual relationship with a minor in 2015, his trial brought up the misunderstandings that still exist regarding pedophilia. Many were angry when a psychiatrist for the defense tried to argue that Fogle suffered from "mild pedophilia."

Pedophilia and the Criminal Justice System

Pedophilia itself is neither a crime nor a recognized legal term. The term is often applied by people in the criminal justice system to adults who commit sexual acts that involve children, but such usage may be incorrect. It is important to recognize that pedophiles are not necessarily sex offenders and that not all child sexual abusers and child molesters are pedophiles. Many pedophiles never attempt to have sexual contact with children, and not all offenders have recurrent intense feelings toward children, as diagnoses of the condition require.

Pedophiles do, however, enter the criminal justice system when they act on their sexual fantasies and urges by engaging in sexual acts with children, by intentionally exposing themselves to children for the purpose of sexual arousal, or by knowingly possessing child pornography—sexual images of children. By doing any of those things, pedophiles become sex offenders and are subject to monitoring and punishment within the criminal justice system. Although the level of monitoring varies by state, convicted sex offenders are required to register with state agencies, such as law enforcement, and may become the subjects of community notification when they are convicted.

In many states, child pornography laws are used to prosecute pedophile sex offenders. In the United States, it is illegal to produce, promote, distribute, advertise, or knowingly possess child pornography. Lawmakers and many researchers believe that handling child pornography may increase the existing propensity of pedophiles to act on their urges and fantasies. In addition, pornography is often used by pedophiles who engage in child molestation as a tool to lower the inhibitions of their young victims.

Pedophilia and the Court System

The US court system has accepted psychiatric diagnoses of pedophilia as a serious mental disorder. In the case of Kansas v. Hendricks (1997), the US Supreme Court upheld Kansas’s Sexually Violent Predator Act. The Kansas law permitted persons deemed to be sexually violent predators to be committed to psychiatric hospitals for control, care, and treatment until they are judged no longer to pose dangers to themselves or society.

The Kansas case arose when the defendant, Leroy Hendricks, was due for release from prison. He had a long history of sexually molesting children, and the state judged him a sexually violent predator and civilly committed him to a state hospital. Hendricks challenged his commitment, even though at trial he had agreed not only with a state physician’s diagnosis of his pedophilia but also that he continued to have sexual fantasies and urges involving children that he could not control. Finding that pedophilia qualifies as a mental disorder under the act, the Supreme Court upheld Hendricks’s commitment.

In some states incarcerated offenders diagnosed as pedophiles may be compelled to undergo medical treatment as a condition of their release from prison. An example of this is California’s chemical castration laws. California law allows that some male sexual offenders can be ordered to take the drug medroxyprogesterone, which is more commonly known as Depo-Provera, to lower their testosterone levels to reduce their sexual drives. Use of this drug is being employed by other states as well. In some cases, the offender can choose to undergo the procedure as a condition of parole. In other cases, the judge has the discretion to impose the procedure on a first offense. In California, chemical or surgical castration is mandatory as a condition of parole for a second offense.

Bibliography

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Briere, J., and American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment, 4th ed. Sage, 2017..

Crosson-Tower, Cynthia. Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. 10th ed. Pearson, 2020.

Jenkins, Philip. Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

Mascolo, John. "Chemical and Surgical Castration for Sex Offenders." Find Law, 21 Aug. 2023, www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/chemical-and-surgical-castration.html. Accessed 8 July 2024.

McCabe, Kimberly A. Child Abuse and the Criminal Justice System. New York: Lang, 2003. Print.

Russell, Diana E. H. Sexual Exploitation: Rape, Child Sexual Abuse, and Workplace Harassment. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1989. Print.