What do anti-contact pedophiles believe?

Ethan Edwards is the co-founder of Virtuous Pedophiles. Blog posts reflect his personal views, and are not statements from the organization.

Child sexual abuse is wrong. Just plain wrong. Dead wrong. When I read about it, my stomach turns. It is especially horrible when a child is brutalized, or when a stepfather coerces his stepdaughter into sex for years at a time. Less extreme cases are also highly repulsive. For instance, in the most benign scenario, sometimes a child is genuinely affectionate towards a friend of the family. He then introduces sexual touching into their relationship, and maybe she doesn't object, or says it is OK or even enjoys it. Those make my stomach turn too. She is likely to be harmed when she later learns the broader context for what happened.Those views would not be in the least bit remarkable if I weren't also romantically and sexually attracted to small girls. I have never done anything inappropriate with a child, and I never will. It is unthinkable. But I do feel the attraction.

What should I call this side of myself? I wish there were a better term, but the most accurate one available is "pedophile". I will probably devote a full entry or more of this blog to the term — its original meaning, its newer meanings, and all the connotations and baggage that follow. I qualify for the original meaning: A strong, persistent sexual attraction to prepubescent children. I will immediately put "celibate" in front of it. "Celibate pedophile", to deny the worst misunderstandings. I am attracted to children, but never act sexually with children. There are a lot of us celibate pedophiles, and we are seriously misunderstood.

I am more than celibate, however. Many NAMBLA members are celibate, for fear of legal repercussions, or for fear of what the legal system and social services will do to a boy if it discovers a sexual relationship. But unlike them, I do not seek to change society so that adult-child sexual activity is more accepted. I don't want that change and would speak against it if it ever became a subject for serious debate.

These are my twin defining sides: Number one, a revulsion towards and total rejection of any adult-child sexual activity — it is called child sex abuse. Number two, a romantic and sexual attraction to small girls.

To some this sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. Others may accept the two sides but think it implies that I hate myself. I do not.

I am one of two co-founders of Virtuous Pedophiles. Since the site went live in June of 2012, I have been handling the bulk of the email correspondence. The experience has shaped my views of pedophilia and given me a unique perspective on the subject.

About the author: Ethan Edwards is a pseudonym. I am a pedophile, always celibate, and I have never seen child pornography. My attraction is strongest to girls around 4 years old, but I am also attracted to girls and women up through their 30s or beyond. Now in my late 60s, I'm divorced and living alone. I was married for over 10 years and was heavily involved with raising my 3 daughters. For most of my career I was a successful software engineer. I am very unusual for a pedophile in that I didn't realize that I was one until I was in my 50s—but it was there all along. I am angry that we all must remain silent or risk losing everything. That was my mindset when I co-founded Virtuous Pedophiles in 2012. I soon learned of the the terror of the typical pedophile who realizes as a teenager that his attraction isn't going to go away, who has nowhere to turn for help. The injustice I am most passionate about is the harsh legal penalties imposed on pedophiles who passively view illegal images of children. I stepped down from my role as a director of Virtuous Pedophiles early in 2024 and am delighted to pass the mantle on to a younger generation. This content was taken from Ethan's longstanding blog, Celibate Pedophiles. Some of the titles and taglines have been edited for their inclusion at thepword.

You can see an earlier version of the blog at the wayback machine.

This content was removed from blogspot in 2020 because the platform banned the author's account, giving only a vague reason.

the p word is a collection of 321 articles, blogs, podcasts and threads in the voices of pedophiles and others who oppose adult child sexual contact and sexual exploitation of children. Despite our mainstream views, this content is frequently removed from social media or blog sites because openly discussing pedophile attractions or avowing them are not tolerated. Our side of the conversation continues here.

editor at the p word net | Except where stated, all images are AI and do not depict real people. | Download the whole site.

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The received wisdom for some time has been that looking at CP makes it more likely that a pedophile will offend against a child. When men who have committed a contact offense are interviewed, they often describe CP viewing as part of the process that led up to the offense. But there is no evidence of...

The first time I had a suicidal thought I was in 4th grade. That means I would have been 9 or 10.

A loud feminist complaint in society is that men objectify women and view them as sex objects. Women want instead to be treated as full people with talents, opinions, and aspirations, just like men. I believe that in general men will instinctively evaluate women with regard to their attractiveness regardless...

The received wisdom for some time has been that looking at CP makes it more likely that a pedophile will offend against a child. When men who have committed a contact offense are interviewed, they often describe CP viewing as part of the process that led up to the offense. But there is no evidence of...