Predict the percentage of Catholic clergy who are paedophiles

[Sava]

i know dude
just think how many sperm die when you jackoff

rip

[Sava]

you ****ing nitwit

[Dr Strangelove]

I don't think that 2% of the adult male population in the US or in the world are pedophiles. About 2% of the population may be gay, but that is not to be confused with pedophillia.

[regexcellent]

When gay people can't have sex with other men openly some are going to turn to having sex with people they can control, generally minors...I think that's where the "gay pedophile" stereotype comes from and the source of pedophilia among priests.

[Al B. Sure!]

When gay people can't have sex with other men openly some are going to turn to having sex with people they can control, generally minors...I think that's where the "gay pedophile" stereotype comes from and the source of pedophilia among priests.

[Elok]

Am looking forward to the priests' march: "We are the 98%!"

[Tuberski]

duh, 69%

ACK!

[Ben Kenobi]

I think that's where the "gay pedophile" stereotype comes from and the source of pedophilia among priests.

The split being 80/20 boys probably has something to do with it.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I don't think that 2% of the adult male population in the US or in the world are pedophiles. About 2% of the population may be gay, but that is not to be confused with pedophillia.

I have seen numbers that the worldwide male population consists of 4% pedophiles, and it may be a genetic predisposition.

[pchang]

I have seen numbers that the worldwide male population consists of 4% pedophiles, and it may be a genetic predisposition.

I think your numbers are not accurate. The highest percentage of registered sex offenders is in the state of Delaware. At 517/100000, this equates to 0.517%. If we take into account that the US population is 72.3% adults, then the percentage of registered sex offenders among adults in Delaware is 0.715%. If the Pope estimates that 2% of the clergy have actually molested children, then this would be almost 3X the rate of Delaware. The total number of registered sex offenders in the US is about 750,000. The total adult population of the US is about 230,000,000. This is a 0.326%. The Pope's 2% estimate would be 6X this number.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Registered sex offenders does not equal pedophiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia

The prevalence of pedophilia in the general population is not known,[30][63] but is estimated to be lower than 5% among adult men.[30]

If it was closer to 1%, I that would be the upper limit cited in the linked study.

And I'd think an apples to apples comparison would include how many Catholic priests are registered sex offenders as a percentage?

[Dr Strangelove]

I'm not willing to pay the 4 bucks to read the articel, so I have no way of determining how they came up with that number. I will point out that the same article states that "the prevalence of pedophilia in the general population is not known".

[Ben Kenobi]

The total number of registered sex offenders in the US is about 750,000. The total adult population of the US is about 230,000,000. This is a 0.326%. The Pope's 2% estimate would be 6X this number.

If you restrict the sample to men aged 25+ how does that change your numbers? Also - as noted, this is a lower, not upper bound.

That brings us to lower bound of just 1.5x that of Delaware, given that 90+ percent of sex offenders are men.

The Pope's 'back of the envelope calculation' is reasonable. 1 percent would be too low. 2 percent is probably pretty close to the actual number. If one assumes reporting rates and conviction rates of around 50 percent for sex offenders this brings the numbers right in line.

[pchang]

Registered sex offenders does not equal pedophiles.

Yes. Pedophiles includes those who just fantasize and don't act on it. The Catholic church is concerned about those who act, but not those who can control their urges.

And I'd think an apples to apples comparison would include how many Catholic priests are registered sex offenders as a percentage?

Maybe. But then, Catholic priests have had a very powerful organization covering for them to prevent their prosecution...........

[regexcellent]

I can't be the only one who wants to splash Justin Bieber in the face with a pot full of boiling transmission fluid, and it's the fact that it's illegal that's stopping me. Similarly, there are probably a lot of pedophiles who are dissuaded by the threat of going to prison. We'll never be able to know how many.