9. When does attraction to minors begin?

The sexual attraction to prepubescent children is believed to first appear during adolescence.

• Two researchers have found evidence that pedophilia may be predetermined before puberty.³³
• Criminological literature shows that some juvenile sex offenders are preferentially attracted to prepubescent children.³⁴

There is no literature on the appearance of ephebophilia, and there are no non-criminological studies of the development of pedophilia or ephebophilia among youth. As a result, no information is available about the characteristics or behavior of these children or adolescents in the general population, or of effective ways to help them.³⁵

When a boy is suspected of interacting sexually with a younger child, he is often arrested and placed in family therapy and/or adult-style sex offender treatment that may involve aversion therapy (or related behavioral methods), cognitive restructuring, relapse prevention approaches, and/or sex-drive reducing drugs.³⁶

• For more information, see the section on this site about youth issues.