After a series of high-profile cases of women sexually abusing children and teenagers, six paedophile women have shared their struggles dealing with their taboo sexual attractions
The secret lives of non-offending female paedophiles has been exposed after a slew of women were convicted for sex attacks on children and minors. Teachers, a mayor and a nurse have all been convicted of convicted of horrific sex crimes in recent years.
In a high profile UK case, former teacher Rebecca Joynes was jailed for having affairs with two boys, both 15, she met at her job in a Greater Manchester school. The 31-year-old, who has since been banned from teaching, even gave birth to one of the teenager’s children.
While convictions for child sex offences are usually well publicised, a Nottingham Trent University study found there are non-offending woman paedophiles who struggle with their taboo sexual attractions. The thorough research interviewed six anonymous women who self-identified as minor-attracted persons (MAPs).
The women revealed they struggle with feelings of isolation but have found companionship with other paedos on anonymous online chatrooms.
Participant three told the study: “I don’t think people are aware of the fact that females can be paedophiles too but we do exist…Women are not known to be paedophiles.
“If a woman is a paedophile, it’s rare for her to say so. The stigma is that ‘all paedophiles are men’.”
The study found the online paedo chat rooms are mostly dominated by men but women are finding it helpful when they find each other. Participant one hid their sexuality for 26 years before she found the courage to find others on the internet.
She said: “I had got to such a desperate position. I kind of didn’t care anymore or I went on the Internet thought f*** it. If I die I die. But that was at the same time when I started thinking about therapy and everything. But that is after 26 years of keeping it secret…”
She added: “But yeh it helps seeing that there’s others. It really helps seeing that there is other women there and there is loads which I didn’t expect, I thought I was the only one so it’s a bit of reassurance that you’re not alone.”
After finding a friend who also had a horrific sexual attraction to children, participant one said her online companion has “helped enormously because she is really really clever and you can tell she is really intelligent”. She added: “I have got her online and she is beautiful and she is successful and is clever and it made me think, wow ok people like us aren’t just hideous monsters and it has been extremely helpful and helped me keep positive for my future.”
Meanwhile, participant two shared how most of them are attracted to girls. She said: “I have noticed that the majority of women online are mainly attracted to young girls.
“So at times I can feel like an alien as my attractions are 80% younger boys, 15% girls and 5% adults, so when I am in a thread where no one is attracted to young boys I feel a bit of an outcast. So at times I can almost feel more alienated there than if it was all men who were attracted to younger boys, if that makes sense”.
Participant five told how she felt like a “double freak” because most of the paedos on her forum were men. She said: “I was the only female on there and I was kind of always seen as the odd one out and there is definitely a feeling of being a minority within a minority.
“I have always felt kind of you know, like I am a double freak because of it. There was one or two users who doubted I was a woman”.
Many of the interviewees have hidden their sexual attractions from their family out of a fear of rejection. Participant three said: “I most certainly would never reveal it to my family or people I know because they would hate me.
“My older sister was sexually abused as a kid, so I don’t think my family would take too kindly to the idea of me being a paedophile. There’s that common misconception to get through first, the one where all paedophiles are child molesters.”
Meanwhile, participant five shared her grievance with not being able to pursue who she is sexually attracted to. She said: “It’s very frustrating like to know that I’m never going to be able to even so much as kiss on the lips somebody who I’m really attracted to and it’s kind of a frustrating, painful thing to think about and it’s something that people can’t really empathize with.”
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