Pedophilia

A pedophile is an adult who is sexually attracted to children who have not reached puberty. A
pedophile has a mental disorder called "pedophilia". Some people with pedophilia have sex with
children or use children in a sexual way. This is called "child sexual abuse". Most, but not all,
children who are sexually abused, are abused by people who have pedophilia. Some adults have
pedophile feelings but do not act by sexually abusing children. The common definition also says
that a pedophile is at least 5 years older than the victim, and at least 16 years of age.

Medical researchers do not know how many people in the population are pedophiles. This is
because it is hard to study people's feelings and desires unless they actually show that they have
those feelings. A second reason is that when an adult or teenager sexually abuses a child, people
often call the abuser a "pedophile", but it is possible that the abuse happened for a different
reason. A person is only a pedophile if they are sexually attracted to children. If a person
sexually abuses a child to frighten or punish them, for example, then it may not be true pedophile
behavior. However, most child sexual abuse is committed by pedophiles.

Not all pedophiles feel or act in the same way. Since the 1880s, psychologists have studied
and shown that different pedophiles might act in different ways. Here are some of the ways:

Some pedophiles are attracted only to children for sex.

Some pedophiles are attracted to children and also to adults for sex.
Some pedophiles are mostly attracted to adults, but sometimes become attracted to a child
instead.
Some pedophiles enjoy sexually abusing children. When a person enjoys cruelty it is
called sadism.

Some studies have shown that those pedophiles who are attracted only to children, if they act
on their feelings and abuse a child, often abuse many more victims than those pedophiles who
also have sex with adults.

The people who abuse children or teenagers are often known to them, and are not strangers.
Around half the adults who commit child sexual abuse against strangers also abuse their own
children.
 Questions about the text

1) who is a pedophile ?

2) What does a pedophile do ?

3) What does medical research does not know ?

4) What are the ways that pedophiles act ?

5) What does the text say about people who abuses children ?