Does having sexual fantasies about children make a person a paedophile?
Not necessarily. The scope and persistence of the fantasies has to be taken into account in determining this question. For example, a person may be aroused on one occasion by an erotic scene with a child and yet not be a paedophile. By contrast, paedophiles are individuals for whom sexual fantasies about children occupy a very prominent place and persist over a long period of time. Some of them will never become child abusers. For others, however, this danger exists and may be considerable. Occasionally, individuals who realize that their fantasies are “abnormal” and who feel that they pose a threat to children take it upon themselves to consult a specialist. Only when a paedophile translates his fantasies into action and sexually abuses a child has he committed an offence in the eyes of the law. 16. Do some social milieux produce more paedophiles than others? No. Paedophiles are found in all social milieux. We may, however, point out that, hitherto, more paedophiles have been identifi
