By Genevieve Gluck
August 12, 2023
A German national public radio program recently celebrated three men who describe themselves as “non-offending pedophiles” and portrayed them as benevolent.
Public radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (DLF) released the episode, titled “Under Control – How Pedophiles Live With Their Addiction” on July 26, and included the perspective of a mother who had asked one of the pedophiles to look after her children.
Berlin-based journalist Judith Basad reviewed the contents of the episode and outlined how DLF promoted sympathy for the idea that pedophilia was a sexual orientation or preference.
During the episode, listeners are first introduced to a pedophile named “Max” who argues that heterosexual men do not “attack every woman” that they find sexually attractive. Max claims that pedophilia is simply a “sexual preference that deviates from the norm.”
Disturbingly, Max also claims to work with an association of men with child abuse fantasies seeking to “promote self-help among pedophiles” called Destiny and Challenge (Schicksal Und Herausforderung). The group states it works to “combating the enormous stigma and making information about this sexual preference easily accessible,” according to its website.
In his personal profile found on the Destiny and Challenge site, Max writes that he is attracted to young girls aged from 5 to 12 years of age.
“I’m primarily attracted to girls before and during the onset of puberty, but I’m also attracted to teenage and adult women,” he says.
In 2019, three of the men involved in Destiny and Challenge were invited to speak at the University of Heidelberg for a “pedophilia theme day” by two student associations.
“The students came from the medical and psychological departments and were generally quite enthusiastic about this opportunity to learn more about this topic. They complained that not enough of this appeared in their curriculum, so they organized this event themselves. The interest and enthusiasm of the students was very encouraging,” reads the event’s description on the group’s page.
Destiny and Challenge claims to have also been involved in the production of a short film titled “Children’s Friends.” Max is said to have been involved in the development of the film, offering advice “from the point of view of a pedophile.”
The film is set to be presented at a film festival later this month.
Another pedophile who was featured on the radio program, using the name Franz, states that he views violent child sexual abuse pornography and had fantasies involving cannibalism.
“I want to dominate. It’s like omnipotence: to destroy the child, to have power over the child, to humiliate and torment them all, and sadistic stuff like that,” Franz said.
The reporter interviewing the speakers, Philine Sauvageot, then introduces a mother named Anna who allows a self-described pedophile named Pascal to babysit her children, and compares her tolerance towards his predatory desires as being linked to her personal experiences with sexism.
During the episode, Pascal admits to becoming sexually aroused while seeing Anna’s children walking through the apartment in the nude. Anna asserts that the experience is not problematic because she has told her children to reject advances from adults, instructing them to “push his hands away.”
At one point, Pascal reveals that he has worked with children, and advocates for pedophiles to be permitted to interact with minors as a form of therapy.
“Overall, the pedophiles are portrayed as strong and courageous people who, despite suicidal thoughts and social ostracism, dare to go public to prevent other pedos from becoming violent,” Basad wrote in her report for Nius.
Basad spoke with Reduxx about the radio episode and expressed her concern about how men with urges to abuse children were being held up as praiseworthy. “It is evident that this aims to normalize pedophilia as a sexual identity. Men with perverse rape fantasies involving children are depicted as victims deserving of sympathy,” she said.
“It is concerning enough when such normalization comes from individual pedophile groups. What is even more shocking is that one of Germany’s most reputable media brands is providing a platform for these dreadful demands, with the support of the state.”
Last year, the German national government and the Berlin Senate funded a play about about “Minor-Attracted People” that cast child abusers in a sympathetic light.
“A MAP’s Tale” told the story of a character named Adam, who is portrayed as a young man grappling with his sexual attraction to children. The script is based on the true story of a pedophile named “Adam” who was interviewed by journalist Luke Malone. In the play’s description, pedophilia was labeled a “sexual preference disorder” and a “sexual orientation.”
