Pedophilia May Not Be a Life Choice

By Dianne Williamson
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
August 26, 2012

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120826/COLUMN01/108269892/1101/raw_headlines

Andrew J. Myers, 34, sat passively at the defense table during a brief hearing at U.S. District Court. Short, bespectacled and unassuming, he glanced behind him just once, apparently searching for his parents. As he left the courtroom, he mouthed “I love you,” to his mom, who covered her face and broke down in tears.

The scene was heart-wrenching. Within days, Myers' mother has witnessed the public transformation of her son from likable local lawyer and Boy Scout leader to one of the most despised members of society — a suspected pedophile.

The Northbridge man is just the latest suspect to catch everyone by surprise, even though we've grown somewhat accustomed to revelations that otherwise “normal” adults are harboring a dark, secret sex life. In Meyers' case, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges he communicated with minors by email and offered to perform sex acts. He also received emails containing pictures of prepubescent boys exposing their genitals.

“I don't know what to think,” his mother said softly, before her son was led into court.

Neither do the experts. Recently, though, some fascinating studies are debunking some long-held views about pedophilia.

For years, we've been told that pedophilia is an addiction or a horrible illness or a manifestation of an abusive adult seeking power and control. It's a failure of character, an evil predilection. Of course, we've learned long ago that pedophiles tend not to be monsters lurking in bushes but more often our fathers, our priests, our police, our teachers. Frequently, they're upstanding members of the community, well-regarded and respected.

The terms “pedophile” and “child molester” aren't interchangeable. Pedophilia is defined as an erotic desire toward prepubescent children, typically under the age of 13. The pedophiles we hear about, with Jerry Sandusky being an extreme example, are the ones who indulge their desires and molest kids.

But not all pedophiles act on their desires, and untold numbers spend their lives fighting their sexual arousal to children. Now, researchers are offering evidence that people can be born with a brain predisposed to be sexually attracted to children. In other words, it's about biology.

Using brain-scanning technology, researchers discovered that pedophiles have significantly less white matter, a substance that connects one brain region to another. Pedophiles perform more poorly on various tests, tend to be shorter and are three times more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous.

If this science pans out, it means some people are born with a sex drive they must fight their entire lives, through no fault of their own. Imagine being a straight man, for example, and being told your attraction to women is immoral and cannot be acted upon. It must be horrible. And little help is available because laws require therapists and doctors to report anyone they believe poses a threat to children.

Such research rings true because who would choose to be a pedophile? Surely not Brian O'Hare of Lancaster, a former veteran state police sergeant and war hero, who was sentenced to five years in federal prison for trying to meet with an underage boy for sex. Of course, pedophiles who molest children are far less deserving of sympathy. And I understand that many people couldn't care less about the causes of pedophilia and will continue to despise them.

But the more we know and learn, the better chance we have of protecting kids and preventing the kind of horrors we hear about far too frequently. In the case of Myers, for example, his once-innocuous Facebook page has taken on more sinister meanings.

“Some people can't sleep because they have insomnia,” he wrote. “I can't sleep because I have internet.”

Contact: dwilliamson@telegram.com