MAP Forum

Technically child murderers may have an exclusive interest in prepubescents. But when MAPs think of ourselves as a community, such assholes no more fit in as a part of it than Jeffrey Dahmer or John Wayne Gacy fit into the gay community. Yet these murderers cause new laws to be made that hurt MAPs with very different offenses, including mere possession of CP, consensual acts with a teenager (that would be legal in other states/ other countries). I think we all need to know these cases so we can point out how different they are from what even our most vehement pro-c advocates promote. These cases should not be considered common, nor any kind of baseline for what minor-attracted people want or get turned on by.

Jacob Wetterling (aged 11, 1989). Disappeared in 1989 with his bones only being found in 2016 after the killer had been identified. Again a case of murder. That is not pedophilia. The perpetrator, Danny Heinrich, had previously threatened boys with a gun, kidnapped and molested them. He had never been caught by police and had no record. He would not have been listed as a sex offender.
Result? The first federal sex offender law was implemented so that people with sexually violent offenses, or offenses against child (which count as violent by default, regardless of the nature of the interaction) would need to register with the police and each state could decide whether or not to release that information to the public. Not as strict as the registers that exist today, but still no connection to the actual crime the bill is named after. Patty Wetterling, Jacob's mother, despite her tragic experience is now an opponent of sex offender registries, knowing that they don't actually achieve their purpose and are purely punitive.

Megan Kanka (aged 7, 1994). Was lured into the perpetrators house where he raped and then murdered her. She bit his hand trying to escape. That is not pedophilia. The perpetrator, Jesse Timmendequas had previous convictions for molesting young girls. He was considered by his therapist a risk to reoffend sexually, but not to commit murder.
Result? Megan's Law, which requires registered sex offenders' details to be made public.

Adam Walsh (aged 6, 1981). Kidnapped and murdered. Decapitated after death. As far as we know, no sexual motive. That is not pedophilia. The convicted, Ottis Toole, was a homosexual man (with adult partners). He confessed to previous murders, but due to his IQ of 75 there is some doubt as to how many people, if any he actually killed. He had no previous sex offenses against minors.
Result? The strengthening of the sex offender register into three tiers of offenses with requirements based on the tiers. Each state has its own system, but I'm sure most people know the kinds of restrictions that sex offenders face (being forced into homelessness because no-one will rent to them, or because all the houses are within 1000 ft of a playground, park or school), and that people who only look at pics, or who were minors themselves when the offense took place, or who did something like pissing in public are on the list. A list that exists because a 6 year old was murdered and decapitated.

Jessica Lunsford (aged 9, 2005). Raped and then put in a garbage bag and buried alive. That is not pedophilia. The perpetrator, John Couey, had been convicted for sex offenses against children. But he also had offenses for drugs and burglary and an IQ of 78.
Result? Florida changed the law to require a 25 year mandatory minimum for a sex offense against under 12 year olds, with lifetime electronic monitoring. No MAP that I know thinks that burying a child alive is acceptable anymore than straight people think Ted Bundy was acceptable.

Just typing all this out made me so angry on so many different levels. Yet much of the mainstream will keep on calling these people "pedophiles" and the fact that they won't stop is why I consider that term a slur. It's a term that causes MAPs more harm than "fa**ot" has ever caused gay people. It's close to the level of various n-words used against black people. It is a term that does nothing but harm our community, despite the fact that it has a very benign technical definition. Until the term stops being used for violent criminals, we cannot, should not use it. Not until we have the power to reclaim it, which now, we do not.

Meanwhile in Europe, which hasn't tended to introduce as strict registration measures, though has seen an increase in anti-sentiment the Dutroux case was famous:

Marc Dutroux wa initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just three years' imprisonment. He was arrested again in 1996 on suspicion of having abducted, tortured, and sexually abused six girls aged between 8 and 19, four of whom were killed.

There do seem to be cases of people escalating from sex crimes to murder. Yet a common factor seems to be abduction in the original sex crimes. That is not pedophilia.

MAPs don't want to take away the agency and autonomy of minors by kidnapping them in order to have sex. MAPs, even pro-c MAPs, respect the wishes of a minor who says "no".

Even though I don't like the term pedophile, it is who and what I am. I'm a gay male who is sexually interested in young males.

Yet that's not what the media thinks they are saying when they use the word.

Great post. Totally agree with this..
As I said in my introduction recently, I too prefer the MAP moniker. Pedophile is a word in our society that carries so much filth and baggage. To almost everyone, it refers to a psychopathic, sexual deviant with murderous tendencies.

The idea of us reclaiming and rebranding it anytime soon, is an uphill battle that does us a disservice.

It's probably a more fruitful endeavor to label it as a misinterpreted term of the past. A derogatory term used to disparage good people. And now a catch all label for "the worst possible human imaginable"

We all know that it simply translates to child love. But to the layperson, it ignites hatred and vitriol.

The bias in the terms even shows up in AI LLMs.

If you develop a good relationship with an AI chatbot and tell it that you are a pedophile, the bot will react with fear. If you tell it you are a MAP, it reacts with an understanding for a marginalized sexuality.

We've reached a point where any crime with a possible sexual component involving minors is considered pedophilia. I don't even hear the terms child molester or child rapist being used much anymore. They certainly don't apply to image offenders or online predators. In society's eyes, they're all just pedophiles who deserve to be locked up forever or killed.