Pedophilia

Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. According to DSM-5-TR, a person must be at least 16 years old, and at least five years older than the prepubescent child, for the attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilic disorder. Pedophilia is distinguished from pedophilic disorder in the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM-5-TR defines it as a paraphilic disorder involving intense and recurrent sexual urges, fantasies or behaviors about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or which cause the person with the attraction distress or interpersonal difficulty.