The only celibate pedophile I really know is me. What I want to know most about others is whether they are good people.

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

Celibate pedophiles generally stay hidden, all too aware of the hatred and prejudice they are likely to encounter if they reveal themselves. Some of us appear in discussion forums online, and I posted some anecdotes of [the things we do].There is a natural tendency among those of us conversing online to think that we represent all celibate pedophiles. But it's not a random group of us who show up. Requirements for participation are access to internet technology and a willingness to read lots of text. These could in turn be correlated with economic status and education. Another requirement is the desire to come online and make oneself known. If celibate pedophiles are content with their situation and don't consider their attraction as a strong part of their identity, they would have little incentive to show up, even anonymously. Desire aside, another requirement is a willingness to come online. Nervous pedophiles may understand that the apparent anonymity provided by an anonymous email isn't great protection. Law enforcement could quite plausibly track them down with a warrant, or the ISPs could be storing that information for use later if laws or police procedures change. These hurdles a pedophile has to pass before speaking up online could be correlated with other important differences.

Anonymous surveys of college students have provided interesting data on the prevalence of pedophilia in the population, but I am not aware of any correlations with other interesting traits — except maleness. Far more men than women report a sexual interest in children.

There have also been studies considering sex offenders against adults in comparison with pedophilic sex offenders against children. Several interesting differences have been found. Of course these are not studies of celibate pedophiles, but it is a reasonable scientific inference that if sex offenders against children differ from offenders against adults in certain ways, celibate pedophiles and law-abiding teleiophiles (ordinary folks) would also differ in those ways. Those studies indicate that pedophiles are on average shorter, less intelligent, and much more likely to be left-handed.

The only celibate pedophile I really know is me. What I want to know most about others are not such incidental matters as whether they are short or left-handed. I want to know most of all whether they are good people. I'm also interested in whether they are outgoing or reserved, kind or selfish, trustworthy or devious, impulsive or more controlled. Intelligence may be correlated with some of those things, but only weakly. (The correlation of pedophilia with intelligence is itself not very strong, so the result of combining the two is an even weaker relationship.)

And now I get to the point of the post. Except where we have evidence to the contrary, the most sensible conclusion is that pedophiles are just like everybody else. Do they tend to be unkind? It is just as likely that they tend to be kinder. In particular, there is no reason to think that pedophiles are more devious, less ethical, or less in control of their behavior than other people.

There is another point. Ordinary people cover a certain range on just about any trait you can think of. The assumption ought to be that pedophiles cover the same range. This idea of great variability within a group is one we should be familiar with. If you've never met anyone from some ethnic group, you may begin with certain stereotypes, but as you get to know several of them you will see that they are quite different from each other. In the case of pedophiles, it may be a long time before you get to know very many, but you should still assume that we are a group with the same diversity as any other.

Lastly, a very small percentage of teleiophiles commit sex crimes. The assumption we should start with is that only a tiny percentage of pedophiles commit sex crimes. There may be reasons to alter that assessment, but the baseline from which we should start is that just as few pedophiles commit sex crimes as teleiophiles.

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.

what if ordinary porn was illegal?

thread: risk or risk factor?

thread: normalizing pedophilia?

ethan edwards

Looking at CP is illegal and can incur stiff penalties, and I would urge everyone to not look at it, for that reason if nothing else. Setting that aside, I think looking at CP is morally questionable. It would certainly make me personally uncomfortable. (I have never seen any).

bly

Does the distinction matter? Yes, so much that it could be the difference between child abuse and no crime.

bly

The term "normalization" has come to mean "shut up" when used against us on social media.

Looking at CP is illegal and can incur stiff penalties, and I would urge everyone to not look at it, for that reason if nothing else. Setting that aside, I think looking at CP is morally questionable. It would certainly make me personally uncomfortable. (I have never seen any).

Does the distinction matter? Yes, so much that it could be the difference between child abuse and no crime.

The term "normalization" has come to mean "shut up" when used against us on social media.