See, imo this is the exact kind of thinking that makes pedophilia dangerous. Most people would agree that being attracted to children is a mental illness. Most people would agree that mental illnesses should be treated by a knowledgeable professional. But pedophilia is so stigmatized that someone even admitting they have a problem, one I very much doubt most of them want to have, has people calling for them to be drawn and quartered, regardless of if they’ve ever actually hurt anyone.

Do I like that there’s art and writing of people having fantasies about children? No, of course not. But making it impossible for people to have a safe outlet, to even talk about it with a medical professional for fear of imprisonment, death threats, or worse, makes it so these people can’t even get the help they need. It’s like teaching abstinence only sex ed. You’re trying to get people to stop having fantasies by burying them, but it only exacerbates the issue.

Edit: lol got your downvote less than five minutes in and the whole comment edited to just say “pedophiles bad.” I guess I, as you like to put it, “hit a nerve.”