# Are there fewer female pedophiles than male? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347 "2015-12-13T19:32:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/21 "2015-12-14T14:44:16Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > Or - It is quite rare for women to be _convicted_ of paedophilia, which would also allow women to joke about it and not be taken seriously because it’s rare for them to be punished for it. Sure, it’s possible, but there is a mountain of hard evidence that male pedophiles outnumber female ones, and nothing much besides anecdotes on the other side. As **Kimstu** posted - > [@](#): > > The NSPCC also conducted its own research in 2005, the results of which suggest that around 5 per cent of children who suffer sexual abuse in Britain do so at the hands of a woman, which is the number regularly cited by other experts in the field. Even the 11% from the hotline isn’t that far off from 5%, taking into consideration statistic variance, false reports, observers biassing the results, and so forth. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/22 "2015-12-14T14:51:58Z")
To answer the OP’s original question, re: the disparity of male vs. female pedophiles, I would say that the ones that make the national headlines are young female teachers (mid to late 20’s) that sexually molest high school age boys. I see those stories much more often than you hear about male pedophiles. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/23 "2015-12-14T15:42:43Z")
There are two vastly different things being discussed here. #1 pedophilia, which is a psychological condition where someone feels sexual attraction to children who have not yet reached puberty. #2 statutory rape, which is sex with children/teenagers who have not yet reached the legal age of consent. The first is a mental illness. The second is a crime. To put it another way, there’s a huge difference between being fantasizing about robbing a bank and actually doing it. I strongly suspect that the mental illness part is equally prevalent among adult women as it is among adult men. But where the crime is concerned, men tend to be prosecuted about 10 times as often as women. I can suggest three explanations for this. First, women might be better at resisting the urge than men are. Second, women might be more able to convince the victims that they aren’t really victims at all. Third, the authorities might be less willing to prosecute women, thinking it would be more difficult to get a conviction. ---
**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/24 "2015-12-14T15:57:22Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > To answer the OP’s original question, re: the disparity of male vs. female pedophiles, I would say that the ones that make the national headlines are young female teachers (mid to late 20’s) that sexually molest high school age boys. I see those stories much more often than you hear about male pedophiles. Quite true…there was a case here of a gorgeous 24 YO female teacher who seduced a 16 year old boy student …who (apparently) had the time of his life. Who was harmed by this? The boy got lucky beyond his wildest fantasies…and she got what she wanted.😃 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/25 "2015-12-14T16:01:33Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > To answer the OP’s original question, re: the disparity of male vs. female pedophiles, I would say that the ones that make the national headlines are young female teachers (mid to late 20’s) that sexually molest high school age boys. I see those stories much more often than you hear about male pedophiles. Yes, but that could be merely a matter of sensationalism biasing what cases get a lot of attention beyond the local. It’s not like you do not hear at all of male pedophiles, but ISTM that of late the ones that make _national_ news tend to involve high-visibility childpr0n cases (e.g. Jared Fogle) or particularly horrible extreme incidents. I’ve seen far more male than female suspects mentioned in stories on vulgar molestation/childpr0n/statutory cases in the local papers’ crime pages. Though ocassionally you get a M/F couple joining forces, too. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/26 "2015-12-14T17:41:47Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > Quite true…there was a case here of a gorgeous 24 YO female teacher who seduced a 16 year old boy student …who (apparently) had the time of his life. Who was harmed by this? The boy got lucky beyond his wildest fantasies…and she got what she wanted.😃 Even if he enjoyed it, and the relationship was consensual, there were boundary violations. THAT’S why she got in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/27 "2015-12-14T17:51:17Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Even if he enjoyed it, and the relationship was consensual, there were boundary violations. THAT’S why she got in trouble. But technically, in many states 16 is the age of consent. A teacher would be prosecuted because they are in a position of power over the respondent and so the age limit is 18 and its a violation of their position of trust. (And IIRC they can be fired and maybe prosecuted(?) even if the student is 18, if he/she is their student or at their school) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/28 "2015-12-14T19:17:54Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Yeah, there should be a line between sex with children and sex with someone somewhat under the age of consent. > > . Yes, pedophilia vs Ephebophilia. > **[Ephebophilia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia)** > > Ephebophilia is the primary sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19. The term was originally used in the late 19th to mid-20th century. It is one of a number of sexual preferences across age groups subsumed under the technical term chronophilia. Ephebophilia strictly denotes the preference for mid-to-late adolescent sexual partners, not the mere presence of some level of sexual attraction. It is not a psychiatric diagnosis. > In research environments, specific terms ... Actually it’s a rather large difference,. Generally true Pedophiles often have no interest in partners their own age. Normal adults do not find pre-puberty children sexually attractive at all, while :“Mid-to-late adolescents usually have physical characteristics near (or, in some cases, identical) to that of fully-grown adults; psychiatrist and sexologist Fred Berlin states that most men can find persons in this age group sexually attractive, but that “of course, that doesn’t mean they’re going to act on it. Some men who become involved with teenagers may not have a particular disorder. Opportunity and other factors may have contributed to their behaving in the way they do”.[4]” I liken it to seeing a large pile of cash at a bank- you’d like that cash, but you’re not gonna rob that bank to get it. _Wanting it_ is normal, _stealing it_ is not. Nothing weird with seeing a 17yo cheerleader and going “She’s hot!”. It\* is\* weird if you see a 5yo and think the same. That being said, I was taught many years ago that true pedophilia in women is almost unheard of. Yes, a woman is just as capable to be foolish and allow her desire for the 17yo football captain to overrule her knowledge that it’s illegal. > **[Female Offenders Driven by More Than Sex](https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92325&page=1)** ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/29 "2015-12-14T19:57:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Sure, it’s possible, but there is a mountain of hard evidence that male pedophiles outnumber female ones, and nothing much besides anecdotes on the other side. > > As **Kimstu** posted - > Even the 11% from the hotline isn’t that far off from 5%, taking into consideration statistic variance, false reports, observers biassing the results, and so forth. > > Regards, > Shodan In addition, the vast majority of people who work with and have access to unrelated children are female. When you normalize for that, the imbalance becomes even greater. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/30 "2015-12-14T22:34:00Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > Quite true…there was a case here of a gorgeous 24 YO female teacher who seduced a 16 year old boy student …who (apparently) had the time of his life. Who was harmed by this? The boy got lucky beyond his wildest fantasies…and she got what she wanted.😃 **MODERATOR NOTE** For the third time, \*\*this is not the place to discuss the morality of pedophila or underage sex. \*\* Further comments of this kind will be subject to a warning. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/31 "2015-12-14T23:37:56Z")
Don’t have a link, but I heard recently that Dateline is going to bring back their “To Catch A Predator” series, Chris Hansen and all, and they may have episodes where they will catch women in their trap. :eek: Bet we won’t see a lot of AOL chat rooms or Myspace pages this time around. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/32 "2015-12-15T01:06:38Z")
With regards to the actual OP thread title, by all accounts it seems like there isn’t, since it seems that fewer women are attracted to prepubescent children than men are. However, if I had a _pubescent_ (or post-) son and a daughter, the only reason I would trust men around my daughter less than women around my son would be the relative strength differential and the potential consequences for my daughter, not any difference in proclivities. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347/33 "2015-12-15T02:57:07Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Yes, but that could be merely a matter of sensationalism biasing what cases get a lot of attention beyond the local. > > It’s not like you do not hear at all of male pedophiles, but ISTM that of late the ones that make _national_ news tend to involve high-visibility childpr0n cases (e.g. Jared Fogle) or particularly horrible extreme incidents. I’ve seen far more male than female suspects mentioned in stories on vulgar molestation/childpr0n/statutory cases in the local papers’ crime pages. Though ocassionally you get a M/F couple joining forces, too. This is basically what I was going to post, with the addition of some info on sexual abuse by educators that I looked up for a previous thread: > [@Is there any crime or vice women do more often than men?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/31): > > It was surprisingly difficult to find real statistics on this, but I did turn up this 2004 report prepared for the US Department of Education, [Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature](https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconductreview/report.pdf). The section on sex of offenders begins on p. 24 of the document, p. 32 of the PDF. Seven studies on this subject are discussed, and while the results varied quite a bit all found more male than female offenders. (See Table 8 in the report.) Studies that looked at public records found far more male offenders (from 80% to 96%). In two studies that involved questioning students themselves, the numbers were closer. Both studies found that 57% of offenders were male and 43% female. Since three-quarters of teachers in US public schools are women ([cite](http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28)), even that 57/43 figure suggests that male educators are far more likely than female educators to sexually abuse students. However, these studies did include sexual abuse by non-teachers who work in schools like principals and counselors, and I couldn’t easily find info on the gender ratio in school employment overall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-fewer-female-pedophiles-than-male/740347.md?page=1)