The New York Times has found itself at the center of a new controversy after a years-old criticism of pedophilia resurfaced online and began to circulate widely on social media platforms.
The article, which argued that pedophilia should be seen as a disorder rather than a crime, prompted a backlash from several prominent figures, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, who called it “absolutely disgusting”.
The development comes amid heightened public scrutiny of high-profile figures linked to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. With global attention focused on the potential revelations related to his network of sex trafficking of young women and minors, the re-emergence of the op-ed has further fueled public outrage.
NY Times op-ed faces backlash
Musk’s scathing remark came after US Senator Mike Lee flagged the article on social media and criticized the US news outlet for its opinionated 2014 article titled “Pedophilia: A Disorder, Not a Crime”.
“The New York Times is absolutely disgusting,” Elon Musk said Monday on X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, the politician countered the NY Times op-ed content by stating, “No, it’s a crime. It’s a lie.”
Meanwhile, another user X said: “Yes, no. Having disordered attraction can be a clinical category. Acting on it is a crime. And once someone tries to blur that line, I’m out. Protect the kids. Prosecute abuse. Encourage treatment before someone gets hurt.”
What did the NYT op-ed say?
More than a decade ago, Margo Kaplan, a law professor at Rutgers Law School, wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times calling for pedophilia to be classified as a disorder, not a crime.
In her article, she wrote that most people are naturally attracted to others their own age as they grow up, and asked her readers to consider what it would be like if one’s attraction developed differently, to a much younger age group. which was an issue Kaplan discussed.
“By some estimates, 1 percent of the male population continues, long after puberty, to find itself attracted to prepubescent children. These people live with pedophilia, a sexual attraction to prepubescents that often represents a mental illness. Unfortunately, our laws fail them, and as a result, they ignore opportunities to prevent child abuse.”
Using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders definition of pedophilia as a reference, she described the emotion as “an intense and recurrent sexual interest in preadolescent children and a disorder when it causes a person “significant fear or interpersonal distress” or when the person acts on their interests.”
Her main argument was that the legal system intervenes only after a child has already been harmed, instead of focusing on prevention. She said this happens because people assume that pedophilia is the same as child molestation and that it is a choice. She further emphasized that one can experience such an attraction without acting on it.
