ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Forensic Psychiatry
Prevalence of Pedophilia in a Forensic Psychiatric Population in Switzerland: A Comparative Study of Contact vs Non-Contact and Pedophilic vs Non-Pedophilic Offenders
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France
- 2Hopitaux Universitaires Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
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Introduction: Sexual offenses against minors represent a major public health and judicial concern. Pedophilia, defined as a persistent sexual preference for prepubescent children, is frequently assessed in forensic psychiatry, particularly in the context of evaluating criminal responsibility and risk offending, yet its clinical significance and relationship to offending behavior remain debated. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of pedophilia among individuals accused of sexual offenses against minors under 14 years of age in Switzerland and to compare offenders with and without this diagnosis. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 51 male individuals referred for forensic psychiatric evaluation between 2018 and 2021 in Geneva. Data from forensic reports included sociodemographic characteristics, psychiatric history, ICD-10 diagnoses, and offense details. Comparisons were performed between individuals accused of contact versus non-contact offenses, and secondarily between those with and without pedophilia. Results: Pedophilia was diagnosed in 58.8% of participants. This diagnosis was associated with higher rates of personality and substance use disorders. However, no significant differences were found between contact and non-contact offenders regarding the prevalence of pedophilia. Discussion: These findings confirm the high prevalence of pedophilia in forensic populations and underscore their clinical heterogeneity. They highlight the need for comprehensive, individualized forensic assessments integrating diagnostic, contextual, and dispositional factors, and suggest that future research should further examine the interaction between pedophilic interests, self-control, and situational opportunities.
Keywords: Forensic Psychiatry, Pedophilia, Child sexual offenders, child sexual abuse material, Criminology
Received: 25 Sep 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Anselmetti, Renouard, Murdocco and Jantzi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Clara Anselmetti, clara.anselmetti@wanadoo.fr
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