The New York Times has found itself at the center of a fresh controversy after a years-old op-ed on pedophilia resurfaced online and began circulating widely on social media platforms.
The article, which argued that pedophilia should be viewed as a disorder rather than a crime, has triggered sharp backlash from several prominent figures, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, who called it “utterly disgusting”.
The development comes amid heightened public scrutiny over high-profile figures linked to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. With global attention focused on the potential disclosures related to his sex-trafficking network involving young women and minors, the re-emergence of the op-ed has further amplified outrage among people.
NY Times op-ed faces backlash
Musk’s pointed remark came after US Senator Mike Lee flagged the article on social media, criticizing the American news outlet for its 2014 opinion-based article titled “Pedophilia: A Disorder, Not a Crime”.
“The New York Times is utterly disgusting,” Elon Musk said on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
Meanwhile, the politician countered the NY Times op-ed content by stating, “No, it’s a crime. This is delusional.”
Meanwhile, another Having a disordered attraction might be a clinical category. Acting on it is a crime. And the second anyone tries to blur that line, I’m out. Protect kids. Prosecute abuse. Encourage treatment before anyone gets hurt.”
Which 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 categorized as a disorder, not a crime.
In her op-ed piece, she wrote that most people are naturally attracted to others their own age as they grow up, and she was asking her readers to consider what it would be like if someone’s attraction developed differently, toward a much younger age group. which was the issue Kaplan was discussing.
“By some estimates, 1 percent of the male population continues, long after puberty, to find themselves attracted to prepubescent children. These people are living with pedophilia, a sexual attraction to prepubescents that often constitutes a mental illness. Unfortunately, our laws are failing them and, consequently, ignoring 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 prepubescent children, and a disorder if it causes a person “marked distress or interpersonal difficulty” or if the person acts on his interests.
Her main argument was that the legal system only steps in 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 someone can experience such an attraction without acting on it.
