Identifying Pedophilia

Pedophilia is a psychological disorder diagnosed by clinicians. According to Counter Pedophilia Investigation Unit (CPIU), “a person who molested children was considered to have a psychiatric disorder only if his actions ‘caused clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.” The person must have issues in those areas to suffer from abnormal pedophilia. “In other words, a man who molested children without remorse, and without experiencing significant impairment in his social and work relationships, could be diagnosed by a clinician as a “psychologically normal” type of pedophile” (CPIU). Here, pedophilia is normalized and it distinguishes between who is a normal pedophile and who is not. That can make it all the more confusing to spot a pedophile.

Parents are urged to watch out for pedophiles to protect their children, but spotting them out can be difficult, especially after reading the description above. According to the article ‘Profile of a Pedophile’ by Charles Montaldo, “Pedophiles can be anyone -- old or young, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, non-professional or professional, and of any race.” That leaves little room to narrow down who is a pedophile and who is not. Certain characteristics can be beneficial in gaining knowledge on who may be a pedophile. “Often the pedophile is male and over 30 years of age. He is often fascinated with children and child activities appearing to prefer those activities to adult oriented activities” (Montaldo).

Paying closer attention to the men around children with similar characteristics can better a parents’ awareness of who is involved in their child’s life. Although, it seems as if that cannot be enough. “There is no way to identify them from the next, other than their desire to commit horrific acts on children” (CPIU). The worst part is, there is no easy way to identify someone who wants to commit sexual acts on children, only clues that can lead to questions. Clues would include someone who “has hobbies that are child-like such as collecting popular expensive toys, keeping reptiles or exotic pets, or building plane and car models” (Montaldo). That’s only naming a few clues and not every pedophile will have the same tendencies, thus creating great difficulty in identifying someone with pedophilia.

Michael Jackson, the world famous recording artist and performer also known as the King of Pop, was identified by many in society as a pedophile even after his death in 2009. There were allegations of him committing sexual molestation on a young boy in 1993. After trial, he was acquitted and all charges of child molestation and other acts were dropped. There may never be a clear answer to the question of whether or not Michael Jackson molested a young boy, but society will always have its opinions. What tied Michael Jackson to pedophile characteristics, was his property he called “Neverland” named similar to the Disney movie Peter Pan. Michael Jackson was known for his obsession with children and childlike fantasies such as Neverland. Many say he surrounded himself with child innocence because he never got a childhood being a part of the Jackson 5 as a young boy. He yearned for that feeling of being an innocent child. The question lies, was he a pedophile because of child obsessions or was he really just hoping to get a piece of his childhood back? Society may never know. This is a perfect example of how difficult it can be to distinguish who is a pedophile and who is not.

Works Cited:

Counter Pedophilia Investigation Unit. “Pedophiles.” CPIU. 2010. Web. 5 July 2010. http://www.cpiu.us/pedophiles/

Montaldo, Charles. “Profile of a Pedophile.” About.com: Crime/Punishment. About.com Guide. Web. 5 July 2010. http://crime.about.com/od/sex/p/pedophile.htm.