trouble imagining our existence

## trouble imagining our existence

#### 19 August 2014
from celibate pedophiles

### ethan edwards

| "Can pedophiles be entirely abstinent, eschewing even their preferred CP?" Why on earth is that even a question? Ethan Edwards is the co-founder of Virtuous Pedophiles. Blog posts reflect his personal views, and are not statements from the organization. Michael Seto is a friend of celibate pedophiles. In a world where many people assume we are monsters, he does not. In a world where many scientists will not speak outside of the mainstream punitive view against pedophiles, he will tell the truth as he sees it, including that sentences for child sex abuse perpetrators and those possessing CP are too severe and that investigating CP possession and online solicitation are poor uses of limited police resources.But his writing still reveals a skepticism about us. Since I just read his book, he's in my thoughts. Perhaps I would see more extreme versions from other scientists. A few quotes: "Can pedophiles be entirely abstinent, eschewing even their preferred CP?" My reaction is: Why on earth is that even a question? Does anyone doubt the existence of men who rarely look at ordinary pornography? Even though it is legal? There are still a great many men even in the developed world who don't even have private internet access. "A pedo-hebephilic individual who is sufficiently antisocial to overcome the social and legal prohibitions against sex with a child is likely to engage in both forms of offending. A pedohebephilic individual who is low in antisocial tendencies may engage in CP offending but is unlikely to commit contact offenses. Finally, a pedohebephilic individual who is high in self-control, low in sex drive, and living a life with strong family, social, and community ties may not act illegally at all." The bar of skepticism is very high here. If everything is perfect, then there MIGHT exist an individual who does not act illegally at all? I would suggest it is highly likely that such an individual will not act illegally. And what about the man who is so-so in self-control, high in sex drive, and living by himself? Could we not imagine that a great many such men might also not act illegally at all? The passage continues: "This does not mean an entirely abstinent life because this last group of pedophilic individuals may still fantasize and masturbate about sex with children or may view legal images of children that they find to be sexually arousing (e.g., images of children in underwear or swimsuits), but it does not mean criminality." It certainly sounds like he still feels these men (including me) are doing wrong. Let's instead start from the premise that pedophiles, like everyone else, deserve the right to the pursuit of happiness. Pedophiles' pursuit is of course limited by the need to not infringe on children's happiness, but here there are no children being harmed — not even viewing past abuse. Since pedophiles are people with an unfortunate sexual orientation, wouldn't private, legal sexual fantasies be what you would want for them if you have any compassion? He holds the view that pedophiles viewing CP are slightly more likely to abuse children, and perhaps he thinks fantasizing to legal pictures might possibly have the same effect. But he seems unable to get out of the mindset that their potential to abuse children is by far the most important attribute of celibate pedophiles. I do not dismiss even one extra crime as unimportant. But for instance a night curfew of poor urban young men (with no criminal history) would surely do far more to reduce crime — and it's unthinkable to do that. There's a reason he doesn't write much about totally law-abiding pedophiles — neither he nor any other scientist knows much of anything about us. But I can dream of a short section like this that could have been included in his book: "This book has focused on pedophiles who commit either contact offenses against children or CP offenses or both. We can say very little about those who commit no offenses at all, because we scientists never meet them. There might be very few of them. But it is entirely possible that there is a large group of pedophiles — perhaps larger than the group of lawbreakers — who never break the law. They may masturbate to thoughts of children or legal pictures of children — fulfilling their natural human sexual desires in the best way they can that is ethical and harms no one else. Their inability to have fully satisfying sex lives is likely to be distressing to them, and they deserve our sympathy and respect." As I've said, Seto is a friend of celibate pedophiles. And he is far from alone. Michael Bailey is now one of our most sympathetic supporters, and as of a few years ago he believed that almost all pedophiles eventually molest children. He is notably open-minded on most sexuality topics, but apparently the evidence or the imagination (?) just is very hard to come by even for receptive scientists. 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. |

other relevant items

other relevant items

lawful good: writing a nomap character |  | pedophilia-be-gone pill |  | luke malone interview
tom jones As I wrote the scenes where his attractions are revealed, it was my own coming out story all over again. |  | ethan edwards Here's how members of the VirPed forum voted on a hypothetical pill to remove their attractions. |  | global prevention project In Season 2 of our Prevention Podcast, Candice has the privilege of interviewing Luke Malone, famous journalist and author of: You're 16. You're a Pedophile. You don't want to hurt anyone. What do you do now? Luke is a trailblazer in the world of journalism, writing about topics that are at times dicey, yet important...

lawful good: writing a nomap character tom jones As I wrote the scenes where his attractions are revealed, it was my own coming out story all over again.
pedophilia-be-gone pill ethan edwards Here's how members of the VirPed forum voted on a hypothetical pill to remove their attractions.
luke malone interview global prevention project In Season 2 of our Prevention Podcast, Candice has the privilege of interviewing Luke Malone, famous journalist and author of: You're 16. You're a Pedophile. You don't want to hurt anyone. What do you do now? Luke is a trailblazer in the world of journalism, writing about topics that are at times dicey, yet important...