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'''Virtuous Pedophiles''' is an  [[Internet]]-based mutual [[support group]] for [[pedophile]]s who acknowledge having a sexual interest in children and do not act on their attraction.<ref name="Salon">{{cite news
 | last = Clarke-Flory
 | first = Tracy
 | title = Meet pedophiles who mean well: The men behind VirtuousPedophiles.com are attracted to children but devoted to denying their desires
 | newspaper = Salon.com
 | date = 30 June 2012
 | url = http://www.salon.com/2012/07/01/meet_pedophiles_who_mean_well/
}}</ref><ref name=Noise>{{cite news
 |last         = Noise
 |first        = Denise
 |title        = Treating Pedophiles: Reasons for Cautious Optimism
 |newspaper    = Crime Library
 |date         = 31 December 2012
 |url          = http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/blog/article/treating-pedophiles-reasons-for-cautious-optimism/index.html
 |access-date  = 19 August 2013
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130612120829/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/blog/article/treating-pedophiles-reasons-for-cautious-optimism/index.html
 |archive-date = 12 June 2013
 |url-status     = dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref> Members support each other in trying to lead normal lives without committing [[child sexual abuse]]. Members share the belief that sexual activity between adults and children is morally wrong and always will be.<ref name="kaplan" /> They also work against the [[social stigma|stigma]] attached to pedophiles. The two founders of the group use the [[pseudonym]]s Ethan Edwards and Nick Devin. They do not reveal their true identity because they fear ostracism and hatred.<ref name="Salon"/> There are over 2,000 users registered,<ref name="virped" /> including former offenders, parents of children, parents of pedophiles, and a few [[sex research|sex researchers]].

==Stance==
Virtuous Pedophiles is a forum which takes a firm stand against child sexual exploitation of any kind, including viewing [[child pornography]]. There are a number of [[List of pedophile activist organizations|pedophile organizations]] in the world, but most of them are either unclear about their attitude towards sexual contact with children or actively campaign to lower [[Age of consent reform|age-of-consent laws]] and to legalize sexual acts with children or child pornography. Virtuous Pedophiles instead accepts these laws and aims to help pedophiles "lead happy, productive and law-abiding lives".<ref name="virped">{{cite web|url=http://www.virped.org/|title=Virtuous Pedophiles|access-date=2017-05-01}}</ref>

==Recognition==
The group's efforts have been supported for their potential benefits by several human sexuality experts,<ref name = Noise/><ref>{{cite news
 | last = Zarembo
 | first = Alan
 | title = Many researchers taking a different view of pedophilia
 | newspaper = L.A. Times
 | date = 14 January 2013
 | url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pedophiles-20130115,0,197689.story
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
 | last = Savage
 | first = Dan
 | title = Savage Love Podcast (episode 321) Starts at 21:30
 | url = http://ec.libsyn.com/p/f/7/c/f7cc1c69daaade64/savagelove-121812.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01cf8f37d4ca5fff06&c_id=5238826
 | access-date = 27 April 2014
}}</ref> such as [[Jesse Bering]]<ref>{{cite news | author = Bussel, Rachel Kramer | work = The Daily Beast | date = 18 October 2013 | url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/18/can-pedophiles-help-themselves-a-book-s-provocative-take-on-sexuality.html | title = Can Pedophiles Help Themselves? A Book's Provocative Take on Sexuality | access-date = 6 March 2015}}</ref> and [[James Cantor]]. Cantor believes such groups can help prevent child sexual abuse. "It is hard to imagine someone who would feel more isolated than someone who recognizes he is sexually interested in children. In my experience, it is in those phases of greatest desperation that a pedophile is most likely to do something desperate, risking harm to a child," Cantor said. "Mutual support among people who share the same daily battle with their own desires can go a long way in addressing the extreme isolation, serving as a potential pressure valve, adding layer of protection, helping pedophiles to keep their behaviors under control."<ref name="Salon"/>

The group was acknowledged in a ''[[New York Times]]'' editorial about the distinction between pedophilia and child sexual abuse by law professor [[Margo Kaplan]]. Kaplan wrote, "It is not that these individuals are 'inactive' or 'nonpracticing' pedophiles, but rather that pedophilia is a status and not an act."<ref name="kaplan">{{cite news | author = Kaplan, Margo | date = 5 October 2014 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/pedophilia-a-disorder-not-a-crime.html | title = Pedophilia: A Disorder, Not a Crime | work = New York Times | access-date = 6 March 2015}}</ref> In November 2014, a well publicized [[Channel 4]] programme on pedophilia included an interview with someone who admitted to having pedophilic urges but had not acted upon them.<ref>{{cite news | author = Agency | date = 25 November 2014 | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11252034/Virtuous-paedophile-outs-himself-on-camera.html | title = 'Virtuous paedophile' outs himself on camera | work = The Telegraph}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author = Solon, Olivia | date = 25 November 2014 | url = https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/should-doing-more-rehabilitate-paedophiles-4694401 | title = Should we be doing more to rehabilitate paedophiles? | work = Mirror}}</ref>

In 2017, Alexander McBride of ''[[Vice News]]'' wrote: "many of these claims [of not offending] cannot be verified. Perhaps some are using VirPed as a cover-up; perhaps some, who were even more daring, saw my photo story as a way to prove they had nothing to hide. I cannot guarantee that this is not the case and I can understand why many would be suspicious."<ref>{{Cite web |last=McBride |first=Alexander |date=2017-05-03 |title=I Spent a Year Living with 'Non-Offending' Pedophiles |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/av39jz/i-spent-a-year-with-non-offending-paedophiles |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=Vice News |language=en}}</ref>

== Trivia ==
Internationally there have been several similar organisations by people with pedophilia who take a strong stance against any form of child sexual abuse starting in the mid 2000s. ''ČEPEK'' and [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schicksal_und_Herausforderung ''Schicksal und Herausforderung''] (german for "Fate and Challenge") are two european examples.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official}}

{{pedophilia}}
[[Category:Additional materials]]
[[Category:English]]