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It is necessary to delve into the sexual interest and focus of child abusers in order to understand pedophilia. Unfortunately, this is too rarely done. An excellent, brief essay on this topic can be found in Gregory M. Herek's web page.(1)
Sexual orientation is normally thought of in terms of an adult's sexual attraction to other adults, whether to members of the same gender, opposite gender or both genders. When we think of the term "lesbian" we normally visualize one or more women who have been sexually involved with other women. But there are adults who do not fit this definition. They have never developed a sexual orientation towards other adults. Rather, they are sexually attracted to children. And often the gender of the child victim is immaterial. One researcher calls such people fixated child molesters an adult who is solely attracted to children. They also define the term regressed child molester as an adult who has developed a sexual orientation towards other adults, and is also attracted to children.
Reference (1) cites a study of 175 male adults who had been convicted in Massachusetts of child sexual assault. They found that none of them were homosexuals; all of them would fit the description of a fixated child molester. Another researcher studied sexually abused children seen in a hospital. Only 2 perpetrators (less than 1% of the total) were attracted to same-sex adults.
1.Web page on various aspects of homosexuality
by researcher Gregory M. Herek at:
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html
