Legal Definiton Of Child Molestation

Child molestation is a crime involving a range of indecent or sexual activities between an adult and a child, usually under the age of 14. In psychiatric terms, these acts are sometimes known as pedophilia. It is important, however, to keep in mind that child molestation and child Sexual Abuse refer to specific, legally defined actions. 

They do not necessarily imply that the perpetrator bears a particular psychological makeup or motive. For example, not all incidents of child molestation are perpetrated by pedophiles; sometimes the perpetrator has other motives for his or her actions and does not manifest an ongoing pattern of sexual attraction to children. Thus, not all child molestation is perpetrated by pedophiles, and not all pedophiles actually commit child molestation.

Child sexual abuse does not need to include physical contact between a perpetrator and a child. Some forms of child sexual abuse include:

Exhibitionism, or exposing oneself to a minor

Fondling

Intercourse

Masturbation in the presence of a minor or forcing the minor to masturbate

Obscene phone calls, text messages, or digital interaction

Producing, owning, or sharing pornographic images or movies of children

Sex of any kind with a minor, including vaginal, oral, or anal

Sex trafficking

Any other sexual conduct that is harmful to a child's mental, emotional, or physical welfare

The majority of perpetrators are someone the child or family knows. As many as 90%t of victims under the age of 18 know the abuser. A perpetrator does not have to be an adult to harm a child. They can have any relationship to the child including an older sibling or playmate, family member, a teacher, a coach or instructor, a caretaker, or the parent of another child. According to 1 in 6, Child sexual abuse is the result of abusive behavior that takes advantage of a child’s vulnerability and is in no way related to the sexual orientation of the abusive person.

For several years numerous charges of child molestation and other allegations of sexual abuse or improprieties were levied against members of the Roman Catholic clergy. These cases had been in various stages for some time, but since the late 1990s the scope of the problem became more widely known. By 2003, it was common to regularly hear a report of a priest resigning or being defrocked or censured by his bishop. These scandals originated in the United States, but spread to many other countries around the world.