Many posters in other pedophile communities and on other similar boards regard me and Virtuous Pedophiles with hatred.

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

Some pedophiles hold what I will call here the "pro-contact" position: they believe that sexual activity between adults and willing children should be legalized and would not harm children if society didn't convince them they had been harmed. The name that is most prominent in the public's mind is NAMBLA, but there are other groups. People with this view congregate online in forums. The ones I'm most aware of are BoyChat and GirlChat. I participate on GirlChat, which is dedicated to the appreciation of the wonder of girls — a wonder I share. Most posters there seem to be pro-contact, and when the subject comes up I will sometimes give my own anti-contact views. Lively discussions result.

Many posters there and on other similar boards regard me and Virtuous Pedophiles with hatred. They feel we are traitors to the cause. The pro-contact pedophile Tom O'Carroll titled a post about us in his blog "Virtuous Turkeys Vote For Christmas". . Some feel we are pushing them under the bus in our effort to please public opinion, distinguishing our virtue from their viciousness. (Our name is actually intended to distinguish us from those pedophiles who abuse children, not from those who obey the law but would like to see it changed.) Some doubt that we are pedophiles at all, but instead think we are pedophile haters out to sow dissension in the ranks of the pedophile community.

The overall impression is that they see us as very little different from the most virulent of pedophile haters.

From the other pole, society's anti-pedophile zealots see no difference between us and NAMBLA. If they notice that we are opposed to making adult-child sexual activity legal, they dismiss it as a ploy to achieve that same end by way of an intermediate step. A pedophile can never be up to any good.

So here we Virtuous Pedophiles sit in the middle, viewed as devious and dangerous bedfellows of their opponents by both ends of the spectrum.

There are also major differences in opinion among those who have more conservative views than ours.

From where I sit, criminal penalties for virtual CP possession are a grave injustice. So is civil commitment of sex offenders who have served their prison terms. But I try to keep in mind that there is a large block of liberal opinion that would view the legalization of virtual CP as a radical pro-pedophile step but also views civil commitment as the same grave injustice that I do. They may think it is outrageous to claim that pedophilia might not be inherently a mental illness (a change in the new DSM-5 of the American Psychiatric Association), but be equally outraged at residency restrictions on sex offenders when released from prison or opposed to long mandatory sentences.

People who guide their opinions by careful thought can undoubtedly see all the distinctions. Even among those whose opinions are guided more by gut reactions, the differences might be discernible. Some pro-contact pedophiles understand Virtuous Pedophiles and our goals and wish us well, even as they disagree. Some parts of mainstream society — and I will hypothesize they are primarily among the liberals — understand very well how we are different from NAMBLA and consider us a very interesting new development among pedophiles.

But still, the range of opinion on various aspects of the subject of pedophilia is vast.

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.

a conservative pedophile

how people justify viewing child pornography (and why i don’t)

to tell or not to tell? pedophiles and marriage

bertus

I prefer the term conservative pedophile. It is a term I picked up and resonated more with me than virtuous or anti-contact.

leonard johnston

1 of 6: Even if you disapprove of CP, meeting other pedophiles means encountering CP users, How to deal?

ethan edwards

Occasionally we get inquiries from girlfriends or wives who have just discovered their man is a pedophile. Should they stay together?

I prefer the term conservative pedophile. It is a term I picked up and resonated more with me than virtuous or anti-contact.

1 of 6: Even if you disapprove of CP, meeting other pedophiles means encountering CP users, How to deal?

Occasionally we get inquiries from girlfriends or wives who have just discovered their man is a pedophile. Should they stay together?