A man named Todd Nickerson has written a revealing essay about coming to terms with the fact that he is, in fact, a paedophile.
The Tennessee-based graphic designer insists that he is not a child molester and refuses to act on his urges.
He claims that he has never looked at child pornography or abused a child, but that he does harbour sexual feelings towards children.
Nickerson entitled the essay: "I'm a paedophile but not a monster".
He wrote in the article for Salon: "I’ve been stuck with the most unfortunate of sexual orientations, a preference for a group of people who are legally, morally and psychologically unable to reciprocate my feelings and desires.”
Nickerson then goes on to admit that he was targeted by a child molester at the age of seven by a family friend.
He told his grandmother but was told to keep quiet about the attack. The molester then left and he never saw him again.
It wasn’t until Nickerson was 13-years-old that he realised he was sexually attracted to children.
“I think it’s safe to say that many paedophiles have deep-seated feelings of inferiority in one way or another, or at least we did when our sexuality was forming, and this becomes a downward spiral during puberty and beyond.”
After turning to drugs in an attempt to medicate his feelings, he found ‘friends’ on a web forum named ‘Virtuous Paedophiles’.
The forum consists of people who have sexual feelings towards children but refuse to act on them.
Nickerson wrote: "I have other pedophiles in my life that I’m actually proud to call friends, people I would trust my children with if I had any, knowing they’d be safe there.
"Treat us like people with a massive handicap we must overcome, not as a monster.
"If we are going to make it in the world without offending, we need your help."
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