Pedophile Organizations

Pedophilia, a form of paraphilia, can best be defined by the American Psychiatric Association's 1994 Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). According to the DSM-IV, a pedophile is as an individual who has recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies about or engages in sexual behaviors involving prepubescent children 13 years old or younger. Within research on child sexual offenders, the terms pedophile and child molester are used interchangeably; however, the former is used within the psychiatric arena of assessment, diagnostics, and treatment of the sexual offender.