The United States is presently experiencing a witch-hunt for pedophiles, a term now expanded to include an interest in post-pubescent teens, which have only been made taboo through the twentieth century, though it is considered within the human sexuality sector natural and healthy for humans to be attracted to counterparts that are young and reproductively viable (fertile or virile) despite what specific age society determines is the minimum for consent. Technically, this puts the majority of American males in the category of pedophilia, when the sole disincentive for most men to approach a sixteen-year-old girl is the potential of jail time.

But just because child-fetishists are persecuted by the moral powers that be doesn’t mean that we are necessarily predators, or have no concern for those that our pursuits, completely unchecked, could victimize. As with any other dangerous fetish, there are ways to express it without causing harm, from roleplay, to the production or consumption of literary fantasy, or that of artistic pornography, which includes that of virtual children.

Granted, Chris Hansen never seems to run out of material for *To Catch a Predator* (though, again, as above, these aggressors can hardly be regarded as pedophilic, pursuing post-pubescent adolescents that are below the age of consent), but even Hansen will occasionally acknowledge he’s interested in snaring sexual predators, not merely folks who fetishize young people. The majority of us choose safe alternatives to engaging in non-consensual, hurtful behavior. And the more options in this category there are, the fewer of us will resort to alternatives that are outside it.