Abstract
This article deals with sexual behaviour with children, proposing a tighter clinical definition, based on a phenomenological nosology. This nosology classifies the behavioural symptoms by the object, the act, and the agent.
1. The Object: the child must be prepubertal and the sex of the child denotes either hetero- or homosexual pedophilia.
2. The Act: Consists of either:
a) Immature gratification
b) Deviant acts
c) Genital union
Only a) is included under the term pedophilia.
3. The Agent: pedophiles fall into three distinct age groupings, culminating in adolescence, mid to late thirties and mid to late fifties.
An account of heterosexual pedophilia, homosexual pedophilia, and the situation of the victim is given, and the clinical, social and legal implications are discussed.