Pedophilia

==Law and forensic psychology==

===Definitions===
''Pedophilia'' is not a legal term,<ref name=mayoclinic/> as having a sexual attraction to children without acting on it is not illegal.<ref name=faganJAMA/> In law enforcement circles, the term ''pedophile'' is sometimes used informally to refer to any person who commits one or more sexually-based crimes that relate to [[age of consent|legally underage]] victims. These crimes may include [[child sexual abuse]], [[statutory rape]], offenses involving [[child pornography]], [[child grooming]], [[stalking]], and [[indecent exposure]]. One unit of the United Kingdom's [[Child Abuse Investigation Command]] is known as the "[[Paedophile Unit]]" and specializes in online investigations and enforcement work.<ref>{{cite web | title = Child abuse investigation impact | publisher = [[Metropolitan Police Service]] (met.police.uk) | access-date = April 18, 2014 | url = http://www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/policies/child_abuse_investigation_eia2012.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140419015830/http://www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/policies/child_abuse_investigation_eia2012.pdf | archive-date = April 19, 2014 }}</ref> Some forensic science texts, such as Holmes (2008), use the term to refer to offenders who target child victims, even when such children are not the primary sexual interest of the offender.<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Holmes | first1 = Ronald M. | title = Profiling Violent Crimes: An Investigative Tool | publisher = SAGE Publications | isbn = 978-1-4129-5998-8 | date = 2008-12-01 }}</ref> [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent Kenneth Lanning, however, makes a point of distinguishing between pedophiles and child molesters.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis, Fifth Edition | first = Kenneth V. | last = Lanning | year = 2010 | journal = [[National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]] | pages = 16–17, 19–20 | url = https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/publications/nc70.pdf | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220513215400/https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/publications/nc70.pdf | archive-date = 2022-05-13 }}</ref>

===Civil and legal commitment===
In the United States, following ''[[Kansas v. Hendricks]]'', sex offenders who have certain mental disorders, including pedophilia, can be subject to indefinite [[civil commitment]] under various state laws{{r|seto|p=186}} (generically called [[sexually violent predator laws|SVP laws]])<ref>{{cite journal | author = Morris, Grant H. | year = 2002 | title = Commentary: Punishing the Unpunishable—The Abuse of Psychiatry to Confine Those We Love to Hate | journal = Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law | volume = 30 | issue = 4 | pages = 556–562 | url = http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/reprint/30/4/556.pdf | pmid = 12539913 | access-date = 2010-10-19 | archive-date = 2010-06-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100621070615/http://jaapl.org/cgi/reprint/30/4/556.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> and the federal [[Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act]] of 2006.<ref name=apabc>{{cite news | author = Holland, Jesse J. | title = Court: Sexually dangerous can be kept in prison | newspaper = Associated Press | date = May 17, 2010 | url = https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=10666088 | access-date = May 16, 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100520014516/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=10666088 | archive-date = May 20, 2010 }}</ref> Similar legislation exists in Canada.{{r|seto|p=186}}

In ''Kansas v. Hendricks'', the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]] upheld as constitutional a Kansas law, the [[Sexually Violent Predator Act]], under which Hendricks, a pedophile, was found to have a "mental abnormality" defined as a "congenital or acquired condition affecting the emotional or volitional capacity which predisposes the person to commit sexually violent offenses to the degree that such person is a menace to the health and safety of others", which allowed the State to confine Hendricks indefinitely irrespective of whether the State provided any treatment to him.<ref name=guilford>{{cite web | url = http://www.guilford.com/cgi-bin/cartscript.cgi?page=etc/courts_updates.html&cart_id=#part_two | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061211162052/http://www.guilford.com/cgi-bin/cartscript.cgi?page=etc%2Fcourts_updates.html&cart_id=#part_two | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2006-12-11 | title = Psychological Evaluation for the Courts, Second Edition – A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers – 9.04 Special Sentencing Provisions (b) Sexual Offender Statutes | publisher = Guilford.com | access-date = 2007-10-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6MQj-mjHgBIC&pg=PA248 | title = Legal aspects of corrections management | isbn = 978-0-7637-2545-7 | last1 = Cripe | first1 = Clair A | last2 = Pearlman | first2 = Michael G | year = 2005 | publisher = Jones & Bartlett Learning | access-date = 2016-02-03 | archive-date = 2020-12-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201211195815/https://books.google.com/books?id=6MQj-mjHgBIC&pg=PA248 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gngG9zPmNKMC&pg=PA159 | title = Inside the minds of sexual predators | isbn = 978-0-313-37960-4 | last1 = Ramsland | first1 = Katherine M | last2 = McGrain | first2 = Patrick Norman | year = 2010 | publisher = Abc-Clio | access-date = 2016-02-03 | archive-date = 2021-01-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210110212548/https://books.google.com/books?id=gngG9zPmNKMC&pg=PA159 | url-status = live }}</ref> In ''[[United States v. Comstock]]'', this type of indefinite confinement was upheld for someone previously convicted on child pornography charges; this time a federal law was involved—the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.<ref name=apabc/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/us/politics/18offenders.html | work=The New York Times | first=Adam | last=Liptak | title=Extended Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders Is Upheld | date=2010-05-17 | access-date=2017-02-18 | archive-date=2021-03-08 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308123200/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/us/politics/18offenders.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The Walsh Act does not require a conviction on a sex offense charge, but only that the person be a [[Federal Bureau of Prisons|federal prisoner]], and one who "has engaged or attempted to engage in sexually violent conduct or child molestation and who is sexually dangerous to others", and who "would have serious difficulty in refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released".<ref name="papers.ssrn.com">{{cite journal | author = Barker, Emily | year = 2009 | title = The Adam Walsh Act: Un-Civil Commitment | journal = Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly | volume = 37 | issue = 1 | page = 145 | ssrn = 1496934}}</ref>

In the US, offenders with pedophilia are more likely to be recommended for civil commitment than non-pedophilic offenders. About half of committed offenders have a diagnosis of pedophilia.{{r|seto|p=186}} Psychiatrist [[Michael First]] writes that, since not all people with a paraphilia have difficulty controlling their behavior, the evaluating clinician must present additional evidence of volitional impairment instead of recommending commitment based on pedophilia alone.<ref>{{cite journal | author1 = First, Michael B. | author2 = Halon, Robert L. | year = 2008 | title = Use of DSM Paraphilia Diagnoses in Sexually Violent Predator Commitment Cases | journal = Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law | volume = 36 | issue = 4 | pages = 443–54 | url = http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/reprint/36/4/443.pdf | pmid = 19092060 }}</ref>