pedophilia
Enable an AI agent to record evidence about pedophilic attraction, distinguish it from a clinical disorder or abusive behavior, and identify appropriate assessment, support, and safeguarding actions.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to record evidence about pedophilic attraction, distinguish it from a clinical disorder or abusive behavior, and identify appropriate assessment, support, and safeguarding actions.
Pedophilia is a persistent sexual-age preference for prepubescent children (Tanner stage 1; generally 13 years or younger), which DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 classify as pedophilic disorder only when that pattern is intense and recurrent and the person has acted on the urges or is markedly distressed or impaired by them - not as a synonym for the criminal act of sexual offending against children.
It can be Record a minimally necessary, non-graphic account of reported attraction and its evidential limits.; Identify missing information and refer ambiguous presentations for qualified differential assessment.; Associate a clinician's diagnostic determination with its framework without independently diagnosing.; Route concrete safeguarding concerns to the applicable human or emergency workflow.; Offer specialist support pathways and track agreed prevention and care actions.; Correct unsupported attributions and restrict access or disclosure according to applicable authority..
Distinguishing features
The attraction concerns prepubescent children; chronological minority alone does not establish this developmental target.
Evidence must distinguish a recurrent attraction pattern from an isolated thought, allegation, search, or observed act.
Pedophilic attraction and pedophilic disorder require separate records; a disorder determination requires additional framework-specific assessment.
Child sexual abuse and pedophilic attraction must not be inferred automatically from one another.
Unwanted intrusive fears require differential assessment; distress alone establishes neither attraction nor its absence.
Scope
+ Evidence of recurrent attraction to prepubescent children, including persistence and uncertainty.
+ Distinctions between attraction, intrusive thoughts, pedophilic disorder, and abusive behavior.
+ Clinical assessment status under an explicitly identified diagnostic framework.
+ Separately evidenced behavior, immediate safety concerns, and protective measures.
+ Support needs, specialist referrals, and limits on agent inference and disclosure.
- Investigation, adjudication, and sentencing of child sexual abuse offenses.
- Child sexual abuse material classification, evidence handling, and removal workflows.
- Survivor assessment, recovery, and child protection case management.
- Full models of obsessive-compulsive disorder, other psychiatric conditions, and neurological disorders.
- Attraction to pubescent or postpubescent adolescents as distinct concepts.
- General sexual development and age-of-consent legislation.
Characteristics
- Attraction-pattern evidence
- not assessed | reported | clinically supported | disputed | insufficient evidence Prevents an allegation or isolated observation from becoming an established personal attribute.
- Developmental target
- prepubescent | pubescent | postpubescent | mixed | unresolved Distinguishes pedophilia from attraction patterns involving later developmental stages without treating legal age as a clinical proxy.
- Reported persistence
- Months or years, with estimated onset, observation interval, and uncertainty Supports assessment of an enduring pattern without inventing a universal duration threshold.
- Attraction exclusivity
- exclusive to prepubescent children | nonexclusive | unknown | not assessed Avoids assuming that attraction to adults excludes a concurrent pedophilic pattern.
- Subject developmental context
- Age in years at assessment and relevant age differences, where clinically necessary Allows clinicians to apply developmental exclusions and framework-specific age requirements.
- Distress and functional impact
- Assessed separately by domain, severity, time period, and attributed cause Separates distress about urges, stigma, disclosure, and other conditions instead of treating them as interchangeable.
- Diagnostic determination
- Link to qualified assessor, diagnostic framework and version, date, conclusion, and supporting assessment Keeps an agent's descriptive record distinct from a clinical diagnosis.
- Relevant behavior evidence
- Links to dated self-reports, allegations, documented events, or adjudicated findings, each retaining its evidence status Separates behavior and its evidential basis from attraction and diagnosis.
- Current safeguarding assessment
- Link to dated assessment of intent, planning, access, control, protective factors, and urgency Supports proportionate action based on current evidence rather than a label alone.
- Support engagement
- not discussed | requested | referred | engaged | interrupted | declined | unknown Identifies feasible next steps without equating help-seeking or treatment attendance with proven safety.
- Sensitive-record permissions
- Purpose, authorized audience, consent or other applicable basis, retention rule, and disclosure constraints Limits unnecessary propagation of a highly sensitive and potentially contested attribution.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.pedophilia
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
Attraction pattern Describe whether the evidence concerns a persistent attraction to prepubescent children.
Recognition requires developmental specificity and persistence rather than a broad label involving minors.
Developmental focus
Establish the developmental category described by the available evidence.
Prepubescent target boundary
Record whether prepubescence is supported, uncertain, or being inferred only from chronological age; do not request child imagery or intimate examinations to resolve it.
- Does the account specifically concern prepubescent children, or does it use an ambiguous term such as underage? definition
- What existing, appropriately obtained evidence supports the developmental category, and what remains unknown? provenance
Persistence and exclusivity
Describe the course and breadth of the reported attraction without soliciting explicit content.
Recurrent pattern evidence
Record onset, recurrence, observation gaps, and whether attraction to adults also exists, with uncertainty attached to each account.
- Over what period has the attraction reportedly recurred, and how reliable is the onset estimate? measurement
- Is the reported attraction exclusive or nonexclusive, and who established that description? provenance
Differential assessment and evidence Prevent unsupported attribution and distinguish presentations that require different interpretations.
Similar words, fears, or behaviors can be interpreted incorrectly when their context and evidence status are omitted.
Intrusive thoughts and alternative explanations
Record unresolved distinctions that require qualified assessment.
Thought versus attraction assessment
Keep feared intrusive thoughts, reported attraction, and other possible explanations distinct; neither distress nor its absence resolves the differential alone.
- Does the person describe attraction, fear of being attracted, or an account whose meaning remains unresolved? boundary
- What differential assessment is needed before attributing a persistent attraction pattern? action
Attribution quality
Preserve the origin and limits of every personal attribution.
Claim source and correction
Distinguish self-report, clinical interpretation, third-party allegation, and automated inference; keep conflicts visible and unsupported claims correctable.
- Who made the attribution, from what evidence, and for what assessment purpose? provenance
- Which conclusions exceed the evidence and should be withheld, corrected, or reviewed? action
Clinical disorder boundary Separate the attraction description from a qualified determination of pedophilic disorder.
Clinical criteria must be applied explicitly rather than silently attaching a disorder diagnosis to an attraction label.
Framework-specific assessment
Identify the diagnostic authority, version, and assessor responsible for a determination.
Diagnostic requirements
Record the applicable duration, age, age-difference, and additional clinical requirements without treating them as universal across frameworks. The distinction and DSM-5-TR requirements are summarized in the [Merck Manual clinical reference](https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/paraphilias-and-paraphilic-disorders/pedophilic-disorder).
- Which diagnostic framework and version governs this assessment, and which requirements remain unassessed? definition
- Has a qualified clinician evaluated developmental exclusions and documented a conclusion? provenance
Distress and function
Represent the person's difficulties without assigning every difficulty to the attraction.
Impact and attribution
Record distress, functional difficulties, and their assessed causes separately, including uncertainty about stigma, intrusive fears, urges, and co-occurring conditions.
- What distress or functional difficulty is reported, over what interval, and using what assessment method? measurement
- Which impacts are clinically attributed to the attraction pattern, and which have unresolved or separate causes? boundary
Behavior and child safety Represent relevant conduct and actionable safety concerns independently of attraction and diagnosis.
An agent needs evidence about current circumstances to support protection without presuming either offending or safety from a diagnostic label.
Behavioral separation
Link relevant events while preserving their distinct evidential and legal status.
Conduct record boundary
Record relevant behavior through references to appropriate case records; absence of disclosed behavior is not proof of absence, and attraction alone does not establish an offense.
- What relevant conduct is reported or documented, and is each account an allegation, self-report, verified event, or adjudicated finding? provenance
- Which details belong in a linked abuse or legal case model rather than this attraction model? boundary
Current safety response
Identify circumstances requiring timely human safeguarding assessment.
Urgent concerns and protection
Record current disclosures of intent, planning, access to children, difficulty maintaining control, and available protective measures; do not generate a numerical risk estimate without an appropriate validated assessment.
- What concrete, current evidence indicates a child may be at risk, and when was that evidence assessed? measurement
- Which immediate protective action and qualified human escalation are appropriate under the applicable safeguarding procedure? action
Care and information boundaries Support access to help while governing sensitive attribution and disclosure.
Useful action requires both a feasible care pathway and clear limits on how intimate information is recorded and shared.
Specialist support
Connect identified needs to qualified services and reviewable goals.
Care goals and follow-through
Record agreed goals such as preventing harm, managing distress, and maintaining safe behavior; link treatment decisions to clinicians and avoid promising elimination of attraction.
- What help is sought, and which specialist service can assess the person's needs and eligibility? action
- Which agreed outcomes will be reviewed, by whom, and at what interval? measurement
Confidentiality and disclosure
Limit recording and sharing to an established purpose and applicable authority.
Sensitive attribution governance
Record necessary access limits, correction routes, and context-specific disclosure obligations; do not treat attraction alone as a universal reporting trigger.
- What information is necessary for the stated care or safeguarding purpose, and who is authorized to receive it? boundary
- What verified jurisdictional and professional rule governs any disclosure in these circumstances? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Exclusive pedophilia (sexual interest confined to prepubescent children)
- Non-exclusive pedophilia (interest in both prepubescent children and physically mature adults)
- Sex-of-child preference: boys, girls, or both
- Pedophilic disorder (acted on, or causing marked distress or impairment) versus pedophilic sexual interest without disorder
- Infantophilia / nepiophilia (preference concentrated on infants or toddlers), treated in some clinical writing as a subtype
- Preferential pedophilic orientation versus situational or opportunistic sexual interest in a child without that orientation
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Wikidata - Q186584 - Item for pedophilia as the sexual-age preference / clinical concept.
- ICD-11 MMS - 6D32 - Pedophilic disorder.
- ICD-10 - F65.4 - Pedophilia, under disorders of sexual preference.
- DSM-5-TR - 302.2 (F65.4) - Pedophilic Disorder; same ICD-10-CM code as F65.4.
- MeSH - D010378 - Pedophilia.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- DSM-5-TR Pedophilic Disorder criteria - American Psychiatric Association
- ICD-11 6D32 Pedophilic disorder - World Health Organization
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, arts. 19 and 34 (protection from sexual exploitation and abuse) - United Nations
- Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography - United Nations
- Domestic criminal law on sexual activity with children and on child sexual abuse material (legislatures; age of consent and the legal meaning of 'child' are not the same as prepubescence)
- Mandatory child-abuse reporting duties for clinicians and other designated professionals - typically state, provincial, or national statute, not a feature of the diagnosis itself
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Psychiatric diagnosis and treatment planning (psychotherapy, sometimes anti-androgen or SSRI medication) for people who meet disorder criteria or seek help for the preference.
- Forensic mental-health evaluation of people charged with sexual offences against children, including whether a pedophilic preference is present.
- Structured risk and interest assessment in offending samples (e.g. Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests; actuarial tools such as Static-99R used on the offence, not as a diagnosis of pedophilia).
- Prevention programmes aimed at non-offending people with pedophilic interest (the best-known public example is Germany's Prevention Project Dunkelfeld).
- Child-protection, policing, and CSAM investigation, which target acts and material, not the psychiatric label.
- Research using self-report, viewing-time, and phallometric (penile plethysmography) methods to study age preference as distinct from offending.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Duration of the sexual-interest pattern (DSM threshold) - ≥6 months for diagnosis - months
- Age of the person being diagnosed - ≥16 (DSM); pattern described as persistent in adulthood - years
- Age difference versus the child in the diagnostic criterion - ≥5 - years
- Developmental stage of the preferred body type - Tanner stage 1 (prepubescent); generally age 13 or younger - Tanner stage
- Community prevalence of pedophilic interest in adult men - uncertain; published estimates often on the order of about 0.5-5%, methods contested - percent of adult men
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Equating pedophilia (an age preference) with child sexual abuse (a criminal act): many people who sexually offend against children are not pedophilic, and a pedophilic preference can exist without known offending.
- Harm to children if sexual urges are acted on, including contact abuse and use of child sexual abuse material.
- Diagnostic overreach: labelling hebephilic interest (early-pubescent bodies) or legal-age adolescent attraction as pedophilia.
- Under-detection and concealment in clinical and forensic settings because of stigma and legal risk.
- Stigma and mandatory-reporting regimes that deter non-offending people from seeking treatment.
- Unreliable assessment (denied self-report; laboratory-specific phallometric cutoffs; viewing-time methods with false positives).
- Policy failure modes: treating the diagnosis as destiny in civil commitment, registration, or extra-legal vigilantism.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Spelling and lay usage: pedophilia (US) vs paedophilia (UK and much of the Commonwealth); popular speech often uses the word for any sexual offence against a minor.
- Legal 'child' is set by age of consent, commonly 14-18, so it is wider than prepubescence; the same sexual-age preference can therefore sit inside or outside criminal law depending on the jurisdiction and the other person's age.
- DSM-5-TR dominates US clinical and much research practice; ICD-10/ICD-11 dominate coding in most other health systems, with ICD-11 requiring a sustained arousal pattern involving prepubertal children.
- Help-seeking: Germany's Dunkelfeld model offers confidential prevention treatment; in many US and similar jurisdictions, broad mandatory reporting makes anonymous clinical help harder.
- Hebephilia is used in some forensic debates (notably North America) but is not a DSM-5-TR diagnosis and is not the same ICD-11 entity as pedophilic disorder.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Hebephilia - Sexual-age preference for early-pubescent bodies (roughly Tanner 2-3, often about 11-14), not prepubescent Tanner 1; not a DSM-5-TR diagnosis.
- Ephebophilia - Preference for mid-to-late adolescents (post-pubertal), not prepubescent children.
- Child sexual abuse / sexual offending against children - A behaviour and a crime; test is whether a sexual act or exploitation occurred, not whether a persistent prepubescent age preference is present.
- Incest - Defined by kinship, not by the child's developmental stage; an incest offence may or may not involve pedophilic preference.
- Statutory sexual offences with post-pubertal adolescents - Turn on legal age of consent and the adolescent's chronological age, not on a preference for prepubescent bodies.
- Child sexual abuse material offending (as a legal category) - Possession or distribution of prohibited images is a criminal classification; it correlates with pedophilic interest in research samples but is not the diagnosis.
- Teleiophilia with situational offending - Primary sexual preference for adults, with opportunistic or antisocial sexual behaviour toward a child; separated by evidence of persistent prepubescent age preference (history, self-report, or valid phallometric/viewing-time findings).
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of pedophilia this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Sources
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), Pedophilic Disorder - Diagnostic threshold: recurrent intense sexual interest in prepubescent children (generally ≤13), duration ≥6 months, acted-on or distressing/impairing, person ≥16 and ≥5 years older than the child; exclusive/non-exclusive and sex-of-child specifiers.
- ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics, 6D32 Pedophilic disorder - WHO definition of pedophilic disorder as a sustained, focused, intense pattern of sexual arousal involving prepubertal children, distinct from sexual behaviour with children that is not driven by that pattern.
- International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), F65.4 Pedophilia - Earlier WHO code still used in many health systems; sexual preference for children, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age.
- Pedophilia and Sexual Offending Against Children: Theory, Assessment, and Intervention (2nd ed.) - Clinical/forensic distinction between pedophilic age preference and child sexual offending; exclusive vs non-exclusive forms; assessment (including phallometry and SSPI) and treatment evidence.
What the second pass must settle
- Should the registry's ACT / ACT.ACT placement be retained with an explicit attraction-pattern interpretation, or does its ontology require a different classification?
- Which diagnostic framework and version should govern each deployment, particularly its duration requirements, developmental exclusions, and distress criteria?
- Which assessment methods are sufficiently validated for the intended population, especially help-seeking people without known offenses and older adolescents?
- Which locally available specialist services and safeguarding procedures can be verified, including their confidentiality and reporting rules?
- Which outcomes can responsibly indicate improved well-being and maintained child safety without treating changes in attraction, behavior, and assessed risk as interchangeable?