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Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/usmt20
Forbidden Fantasies: A Qualitative Exploration of the
Content of Sexual Fantasies of Adults Reporting Sexual
Attraction to Minors
Etienne Garant, Jean Proulx & Michael C. Seto
To cite this article: Etienne Garant, Jean Proulx & Michael C. Seto (26 Mar 2025):
Forbidden Fantasies: A Qualitative Exploration of the Content of Sexual Fantasies of
Adults Reporting Sexual Attraction to Minors, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, DOI:
10.1080/0092623X.2025.2479729
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY
Forbidden Fantasies: A Qualitative Exploration of the Content
of Sexual Fantasies of Adults Reporting Sexual Attraction to
Minors
Etienne Garanta, Jean Proulxa and Michael C. Setob,c
aSchool of Criminology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; bForensic Research Unit,
University of Ottawa’s Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; cDepartment
of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT
While a few studies have investigated the sexual fantasies of adults report-
ing sexual attraction to minor, none, to the best of our knowledge, have
focused on the specific types of content of these fantasies. In this qualita-
tive study, we conducted content and thematic analyses of the sexual fan-
tasies reported by an international sample of 112 adults reporting sexual
attraction to minors recruited online. Seven themes were found:
Minor-focused fantasies, Other paraphilic fantasies, Unrealistic fantasies,
Incestuous fantasies, Adult-focused fantasies, Promiscuous fantasies, and Group
sex fantasies. The sexual fantasies of adults reporting sexual attraction to
minors exhibited diversity both in terms of the individuals involved and in
the range of sexual practices imagined. However, much of the sexual fan-
tasy content shared by participants was predominantly of a paraphilic
nature. Approximately one-third of the fantasies involved minor as sexual
partners, romantic partners, or featured participants imagining themselves
as minors. Additionally, nearly half of the disclosed sexual fantasies refer-
enced other paraphilic sexual interests, such as violence, fetishism, exhibi-
tionism/voyeurism, body fluids, and zoophilia. Results of our research
highlight the possibility of co-occurring paraphilic interests in adults report-
ing sexual attraction to minors.
Introduction
Fantasy can be defined as a mental activity, voluntary or involuntary, that involves a fictitious
or extrapolated reality in which an individual immerses themselves to feel pleasure (Klinger,
2008). Fantasizing is a universally observed human behavior (Yule etal., 2014). However, despite
the amount of research on the subject, providing an elaborate description of what a fantasy is
and what its functions are remains challenging (Seehuus etal., 2022). Sexually fantasizing poses
additional questions: Does the presence of a certain type of fantasy indicate an exclusive sexual
preference for a particular activity or individual? Is there a distinction to be made between a
normal and an abnormal sexual fantasy? Is acknowledging the occurrence of a sexual fantasy
indicative of its eventual enactment?
These questions become even more complex when considering unconventional sexual attrac-
tions, such as sexual attraction to minors. While sexual attraction to minors usually involves
sexual fantasies toward prepubescent or pubescent children, the specific content of these
© 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CONTACT Etienne Garant etienne.garant@umontreal.ca School of Criminology, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128,
Succursale Centre-ville, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2479729
2 E. GARANT ETAL.
fantasies remains underexplored, and it can include sexual fantasies about postpubescent ado-
lescents. Garant and Proulx (2024) identified five factors related to fantasies reported by adults
reporting sexual attraction to minors through exploratory factor analysis (EFA): Male Partner
Fantasies (fantasies involving a man as sexual partner), Female Partner Fantasies (involving a
woman as sexual partner), Coercion Fantasies (coercing someone into sexual activity),
Promiscuous/Impersonal Fantasies (the fantasized partner is a stranger or barely known) and
Romantic/Relational Fantasies (sexual fantasies that also involve a romantic or relational com-
ponent, specifically with minors).
A qualitative approach is crucial for a deeper understanding of the sexual fantasies of adults
reporting sexual attraction to minors, complementing these quantitative results. Drawing from
a subsample of 112 adults who report sexual attraction to minors (100 men and 12 women)
from Garant and Proulx’s (2024) study, our empirical research builds upon and expands their
findings. By utilizing content and thematic analyses, we partially reproduced and extended Garant
and Proulx’s (2024) results from fantasy ratings, using open ended responses.
To thoroughly assess how attraction to minors among adults reporting a sexual attraction to
them affects their sexual fantasies, three factors should be considered: their attraction to minors,
their attraction to adults, and the presence of other paraphilic sexual interests.
The content of sexual fantasies reported by adults attracted to minors
Attraction to minors
Sexual fantasies about minors can include any imagined sexual partner under the age of 18.
Adults reporting sexual attraction to minors is an umbrella term encompassing a range of
attractions to prepubescent children (pedophilia), early pubescent children (hebephilia), and/
or postpubescent adolescents (ephebophilia) (Seto, 2017). Adults reporting sexual attraction
to minors can be attracted to different age groups, such as pubescent children, as well as
older adolescents (Lievesley & Harper, 2021). Sexual fantasies may feature physical charac-
teristics associated with incomplete sexual development, such as genital appearance, breast
size, and the absence of pubic hair, and psychological features such as innocence and play-
fulness (Martijn et al., 2022). Sexual fantasies may also include a romantic or relational
component (Seto, 2017). Indeed, adults reporting sexual attraction to minors often report
romantic attraction (including falling in love), a desire for emotional engagement, and an
affinity for child-like activities and interests (Houtepen et al., 2016; Levitan et al., 2024;
Martijn et al., 2020).
Attraction to adults
Several studies of adults reporting sexual attraction to minors have revealed diversity in both
sexual attractions and fantasies. Grady et al.’s (2019) study found that half the participants
acknowledged some form of sexual attraction toward adults, and Walker (2021) reported that
nearly two-thirds of the participants interviewed acknowledged such an attraction. Stephens and
McPhail (2021) note that 14.2% of their sample reported fantasies involving both adults and
children. Finally, Garant and Proulx (2024) investigated both attraction and sexual fantasies in
a sample of 403 adults reporting sexual attraction to minors (364 men and 39 women) and
found that nearly half the men (47.1%) and over a third of the women (40.6%) indicated they
were predominantly or significantly attracted to adults.
Other paraphilic sexual interests
Sexual attraction to prepubescent or pubescent children is classified as a paraphilic sexual interest
(American Psychiatric Association, 2022). Adults reporting sexual attraction to minors may also
have other paraphilic interests that influence their fantasies (Garant & Proulx, 2024; Seto &
Eke, 2015).
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 3
Individuals arrested for child sexual exploitation material offenses often possess pornographic
content featuring themes such as fetishism, sadomasochism, and zoophilia, suggesting a potential
interest in these paraphilias (Seto & Eke, 2015). This aligns with findings from Abel etal. (1988)
and Raymond etal. (1999), which show that child-attracted persons—a subset of minor-attracted
persons—who have committed sexual offenses against children often have sexual interests in
other paraphilic behaviors, including exhibitionism, voyeurism, and sexual sadism. However,
these studies focus on men who have committed sexual offenses against children, and might
not generalize to all adults reporting sexual attraction to minors. The co-occurrence of paraphilic
sexual interests is not exclusive to child attracted persons; studies of the general population
reveal a wide range of paraphilic fantasies, from fetishism to zoophilia and BDSM-like practices
(Castellini et al., 2018; Joyal & Carpentier, 2022; Moss et al., 2021; Seto et al., 2021).
Aim of this study
To thoroughly investigate the sexual fantasies of adults reporting sexual attraction to minors, it
is important to look beyond their attraction to minors and explore the dynamics with the
imagined (sexual or romantic) partners, the diversity of these partners (including both minors
and adults), and the range of imagined sexual practices (paraphilic activities). Only by providing
adults reporting sexual attraction to minors with an opportunity to articulate the content of
their sexual fantasies can we gain some understanding of the diversity, subjectivity, and inter-
connectivity of their sexual fantasies.
While some studies have examined the types of sexual interests and fantasies of adults report-
ing sexual attraction to minors (Bailey et al., 2016; Garant & Proulx., 2024; Houtepen et al.,
2016; Stephens & McPhail, 2021), to our knowledge no empirical research has focused specifically
on the detailed content of the scenarios involved. To obtain the most comprehensive information,
given the subjective and idiosyncratic nature of sexual fantasies, it is crucial that participants
be allowed to express themselves openly. Drawing from a subsample of 112 adults reporting
sexual attraction to minors who answered the open-ended question at the end of the Joyal
Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (JSFQ; Joyal et al., 2015) in Garant and Proulx’s (2024) study, our
research seeks in part to reproduce their results by analyzing qualitative data. Additionally, we
aim to complement their findings by conducting a content and thematic analysis of detailed
descriptions of sexual fantasies. This will allow us to identify the specific elements of the sexual
fantasies reported by adults who are attracted to minors. Thus, this research will investigate
whether the factors identified by Garant and Proulx (2024) are reflected in the participants’
responses, how they align with these factors, and identify if any new themes emerge that could
enhance the quantitative findings.
Method
Participants
The questionnaire used in this study was hosted on the SoSci Survey online platform for three
months in the summer of 2023. Due to the sensitive nature of our questionnaire, we selected
this online platform because its servers are in Germany, a country with stringent online privacy
regulations. Furthermore, SoSci is frequently used in research on adults reporting sexual attrac-
tion to minors (see McPhail & Stephens, 2024), as this platform allows research participants
to preserve their anonymity by using secure web browsers such as Tor. We collaborated with
seven online self-identified adults reporting sexual attraction to minors communities, and our
questionnaire generated close to 1,300 clicks during its hosting period, with nearly 600 persons
starting it and reaching various levels of completion. After cleaning our data, we compiled a
database of 412 adults reporting sexual attraction to minors from 34 different countries, covering
North America, South America, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa (for more information on
4 E. GARANT ETAL.
the composition of the whole sample and the answers to the quantitative questions making up
the JSFQ, see Garant and Proulx (2024)).
Our subsample consists of 112 participants (100 men, 12 women), who had an average age
of 35 years (R = 18–76; SD= 13.99) and varying levels of education (high school not completed
= 2.9%; high school completed= 45.2%; college graduate = 13.5%; bachelor’s degree= 20.2%;
master’s degree = 14.4%; and doctoral degree = 3.8%). Levels of sexual attraction toward children
under the age of 18 were “a bit,” 1.9%; “a lot,” 39.8%; “primary attraction,” 45.4%; and “only
attracted to children,” 13%. Regarding participants’ age preferences, 11.1% preferred children
aged 0 to 5, 46.3% preferred those aged 6 to 10, 32.4% preferred children aged 11 to 13, and
10.2% preferred children aged 14 to 17. Finally, in response to the question “Have you ever
been convicted of any sexual offense (hands-on and/or hands-off) against a child and/or teen-
ager,” 6 participants answered “yes” meaning almost 95% of our sample said they had not sexually
offended.
To be included in the study sample, participants only had to have answered the open-ended
question included at the end of the Joyal Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (Joyal etal., 2015): “Is
there any type of sexual fantasy that you would like to share?” Participants were invited to
describe the content of their sexual fantasies without limiting themselves solely to type (e.g.,
domination, submission, fetishism) or frequency of occurrence (e.g., “I once fantasized about…”)
and/or to provide additional details about fantasies they might had previously acknowledged in
the questionnaire. Four participants had to be removed at this stage: one because the characters
in their response were unreadable, one because of duplications, and two because they did not
mention their biological sex in the demographic section at the beginning of the
questionnaire.
Given the sensitive nature of several of our questions and the various psychosocial challenges
that adults reporting sexual attraction to minors may experience in relation to their sexual
attraction (see Cantor & McPhail, 2016; Ingram et al., 2024), participants were provided with
a list of support resources that they were encouraged to contact if needed. However, it is
important to remember that all participants were recruited through online platforms where they
already had access to peer support and resources.
Material
The Joyal Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (JSFQ; Joyal et al., 2015) is an updated version of the
Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (WSFQ), originally developed by Wilson (1978). The WSFQ was
updated by Joyal etal. (2015) to take into account the different understanding of this topic in
the period in which the WSFQ was developed, the diversity of sexual interests acknowledged
today, and the influence of the Internet. In its final version, the JSFQ includes 54 quantitative
questions about sexual fantasies, addressing a range of themes such as emotional, gay, hetero-
sexual, paraphilic, and group sexuality, among others. Participants are asked to indicate the
intensity of sexual interest using a Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 7 (very strong).
It is designed for use with the general population and has been validated on several occasions
(see Dyer & Olver, 2016; Joyal and Carpentier, 2017).
In the present study, only the answers to the open-ended qualitative question were analyzed.
All participants completed the quantitative questions of the JSFQ before answering the open-ended
question, except for one individual who only answered the open-ended question at the end of
the questionnaire. Completing the quantitative questions was not required, as we did not want
to discourage participants from completing the open-ended part of the questionnaire and/or
indirectly encourage them to give false answers in the first part of the questionnaire in order
to answer the open-ended question. It was decided to place the open-ended question at the end
of the questionnaire as we felt participants would find it easier to respond after reading a number
of questions about fantasies and being prompted to think about them.
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 5
Analysis
We carried out both content and thematic analysis on the answers provided by participants.
Content analysis has been used both inductively and deductively, and has long been used to
describe and/or quantify a written, verbal, or visual message (Cole, 1988; Elo & Kyngäs, 2008).
Content analysis does more than simply categorize discourse, as it analyzes its meaning, both
explicit and implicit (Garant, 2019). This first step allowed us to familiarize ourselves with the
content of the sexual fantasies, quantify and categorize them according to the gender/sex of the
participants (man or woman), and attribute an initial meaning (explicit and/or implicit) to the
fantasies shared by the participants. For example, the response of a participant who indicated
being sexually aroused by forcing or being forced to do something (e.g., “I fantasize about being
forced to worship a women’s feet.”) was placed in the categories of sexual interest in power plays
and domination/submission, as well as in the content categories of sexual interest in women
and in body parts. This categorization was based on both the definitions provided in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR; American Psychiatric
Association, 2022) for various paraphilias and exploration of online forums where users express
their sexual fantasies (e.g., Reddit).
For a sexual fantasy to be categorized as involving a minor, participants needed to clearly
specify the partner’s age (under 18 years old or indicating a minor) or use minor-associated
terms (like “boy,” “girl” or “teen” instead of “man” or “woman”). If no details about the partner’s
age were provided (e.g., “I fantasize about drinking urine right from the genitals”), the fantasy
was coded based only on its content, not the partner’s characteristics. The same logic was applied
to categorize a fantasy as involving an adult partner. This decision was taken because a lack of
partner details suggests the focus of the fantasy is on the activity rather than the partner, making
the partner’s characteristics secondary. Additionally, given the diverse nature of participants’
sexual attractions (with only 13% of participants being exclusively attracted to children), assuming
the partner in the fantasy as being a minor without explicit information would risk misrepre-
senting the data and introducing undue assumptions.
In addition to our content analysis, we performed a thematic analysis inspired by Braun and
Clarke’s (2013) six-step method. The initial phases of this approach allowed us to identify 25
primary concept codes. To synthesize these primary concept codes into themes, we drew on the
EFA results in Garant and Proulx (2024). Building on the five factors identified there, this
deductive step helped establish a framework for our thematic analysis, in which each factor was
linked to a theme. It also enabled us to partially reproduce the study by Garant and Proulx
(2024) in a qualitative context. However, Garant and Proulx’s (2024) study was limited by the
need to remove items to produce a statistically adequate exploratory factor model, which can
affect the factors that are identified (Taherdoost et al., 2022), so we also took an inductive
approach to our qualitative analysis. Induction enabled us to incorporate new themes during
data analysis, reflecting the content of the participants’ described fantasies. For example, as dis-
cussed above, remaining open to the variety of child-focused fantasies (both sexual and relational/
romantic), the diversity of imagined sexual partners, and the range of potential paraphilic practices
helped us develop more accurate themes. Such an approach aligns not only with the exploratory
nature of our research but also with the subjective nature of what constitutes a fantasy.
Content analysis and thematic analysis are recognized as complementary methods (Neuendorf,
2018), and consequently, both were conducted simultaneously in this study. Some research has
shown that combining these two approaches can enhance the analysis of results by integrating
the deductive aspect of content analysis with the inductive aspect of thematic analysis (see
Brough etal., 2009). The study by Lawrence and Willis (2023), which also focused on a sample
of adults reporting sexual attraction to minors, demonstrated the benefits of this combined
approach. Thus, each articulated fantasy was given a primary code, which was eventually linked
to a theme. Also, sexual fantasies were quantified according to the themes to which they were
6 E. GARANT ETAL.
attributed. The first author carried out content analysis coding and synthesis into themes. The
second author reviewed the entire dataset to ensure consistency and identify any areas of ambi-
guity or divergence. A strong consensus was observed, and any minor discrepancies were resolved
through agreement during the final coding process.
Results
Content analysis
The work carried out by our content analysis is summarized in Table 1.
Responses to the open-ended questions varied widely, from very brief answers (20% of par-
ticipants shared fantasies composed of five words or fewer) to detailed lists of multiple sexual
fantasies, and even elaborate descriptions of sexual scenarios extending to up to a hundred
words. Some participants mentioned several different sexual fantasies in their responses, resulting
in more fantasies than participants (total of participants = 112; total of sexual fantasies reported
= 172). Some fantasies were multiply coded because there were different elements. For example,
if a participant verbalized having fantasized about a child urinating, the fantasy was coded both
on the content of the fantasy (a sexual interest in urine) as well as the type of person in the
fantasy (a child).
The “other paraphilic-focused” fantasies comprised 45.35% of the content of all fantasies
described by the participants, with minor-focused fantasies (29.65%) and unrealistic focused
fantasies (9.30%) taking second and third place, respectively. Even though minors were often
depicted in sexual fantasies, and more particularly children, fantasies that involved minors
exclusively accounted for only one-third of the content of sexual fantasies in the sample, sug-
gesting that when given the chance to describe their sexual fantasies, adults reporting sexual
attraction to minors may choose to emphasize specific sexual activities rather than concentrate
on a particular type of individual. However, only about a third of the sexual fantasies reported
by participants contained enough detail to classify the sexual partner either as a minor or an
adult. Therefore, this observation should be interpreted with caution.
Another observation is the differences in the content of fantasies expressed by men or women.
Although the order of prevalence is similar for both genders—favoring sexual fantasies involving
a paraphilic interest and featuring a child—there is a notable difference in the subsequent pref-
erences. While men prefer unrealistic sexual fantasies (9.30%) followed by incestuous fantasies
(8.44%), in third and fourth place respectively, women show the opposite pattern, with incestuous
fantasies (11.11%) being more common than unrealistic sexual fantasies (5.56%). Additionally,
there is a significant difference in the prevalence between the first two categories of fantasies:
for men, 45.35% of their sexual fantasies fall under the paraphilic category, followed by 29.65%
related to children. In contrast, 61.12% of women’s sexual fantasies fall under the paraphilic
category, followed by 22.22% that are related to children. Finally, men’s sexual fantasies are
distributed across seven different thematic categories, while women’s fantasies are limited to just
four of the seven identified themes.
Table 1. Distribution of sexual fantasies by theme and sex of participants.
Themes found
Total of participants (N = 112) total
of fantasies (N = 172)
Men (N = 100) total
fantasies (N = 154)
Women (N = 12) total
fantasies (N = 18)
T1: Minor-focused fantasies N = 51 (29.65%) N = 47 (30.51%) N = 4 (22.22%)
T2: Other paraphilic fantasies N = 78 (45.35%) N = 67 (43.50%) N = 11 (61.12.%)
T3: Unrealistic-focused fantasies N = 16 (9.30%) N = 15 (9.74%) N = 1 (5.56%)
T4: Incestuous fantasies N = 15 (8.72%) N = 13 (8.44%) N = 2 (11.11%)
T5: Promiscuous-focused fantasies N = 4 (2.33%) N = 4 (2.59%) N = 0 (0%)
T6: Adult-focused fantasies N = 4 (2.33%) N = 4 (2.59%) N = 0 (0%)
T7: Group sex fantasies N = 4 (2.33%) N = 4 (2.59%) N = 0 (0%)
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 7
Our content analysis appeared to be effective in deciphering the meaning of the sexual fan-
tasies of our participants, which significantly helped in the generation of codes, facilitating our
thematic analysis (Figure 1).
Thematic analysis
Theme one: Minor-focused sexual fantasies
Minor-focused sexual fantasies included all fantasies in which the participants explicitly indicated
that a minor was present. The reported fantasies were sufficiently varied to divide this theme into
three subtheme: minor as a sexual partner, minor as a romantic partner, and seeing oneself as a
minor/child. In “minor as a sexual partner”, participants expressed diverse fictional scenarios in
which they engaged in sexual activities with a child. These fantasies ranged from acts of physical
discipline such as “—[I fantasize about] spanking young boys”—to engaging in sexual intercourse
with a child—“[I fantasize about having] sexual intercourse with a minor, at least around the legal
age of a teen (14–18).” Some participants shared fantasies in which they were not involved but
which featured minors, such as imagining children engaging in sexual contact with each other.
The second subtheme included fantasies in which minors were seen as romantic partners—“[I
fantasize about] a consensual and normal relationship with a child maybe. More as equals or
partners than anything else considered sexual and such. Which of course it’s impossible to
happen for obvious reasons.” Some participants expressed the happiness they derived from the
presence of minors and the delight they experience when witnessing children’s joy.
The third and final subtheme was imagining oneself as a minor/child and engaging in sexual
activities with an adult, a child, or both, as described by these two male participants—“I often
fantasize that I’m a child having sex with an adult (both sexes)” and—“I fantasize about being
a cis female teen or child under a certain age doing sexual things in all sorts of scenarios.”
Theme two: Other paraphilic-focused fantasies
This theme is the most diversified, encompassing a spectrum of fantasies that mirror the DSM
classification of paraphilias. It includes participant fantasies that expressed sexual interest in
violent practices, fetishism, non-contact sexual practices, domination/submission, urophilia/
coprophilia and zoophilia.
Figure 1. Coding tree for thematic analysis.
8 E. GARANT ETAL.
Violent practices subtheme. This includes any form of violent behavior carried out in a non-
consensual manner, which distinguishes it from BDSM-related practices involving a consenting
partner. Numerous participant fantasies included themes such as death/necrophilia, abduction,
coercion, and genital mutilation, as well as stalking and abducting an individual or utilizing a
third party to manipulate a potential partner—“I like the idea of having a partner who brings
other more malleable people for me to [have sexual intercourse with]—like a girlfriend who
grooms weaker women for me.” When women indicated an interest in such sexual fantasies, the
depicted violence inflicted to others was more commonly physically focused and involved harm
that ranged from relatively minor to potentially fatal—“[I’m] fantasizing about gore-entrails, open
wounds, etc. Sometimes the body is dead, sometimes not.”
Fetishes subtheme.Sexual fantasies defined as fetishes involved either a specific part of the human
body or an inannimate object. When focused on a body part, participants indicated sexual arousal
from seeing and/or touching certain aspects of their partner’s body. While some participants
provided an exhaustive list of all the body parts they fantasize about—“[I fantasize about] belly,
foot, armpit, and genital worship”—others offered a more concise scenario—“[I like to think
about] having a girl use her feet to sexually stimulate me.” For fantasies related to non-living
objects, objects varied among participants, ranging from dirty diapers, school uniforms, and
inflatable swimming toys to dressing up as the opposite sex.
Non-contact sexual practices subtheme. The subtheme of non-contact sexual practices includes any
fantasies in which the participant does not engage in direct physical contact with another individual,
such as voyeurism and exhibitionism. Two notable observations arose from this subtheme. First, these
fantasies frequently involved other themes and/or subthemes, such as minor-focused sexual fantasies,
urophilia/coprophilia focused fantasies, or even zoophilic fantasies. Some participants indicated interest
in scenarios they would like to witness, even though they acknowledged they should not witness them.
For example, one participant mentioned that he fantasized about looking at public displays of schoolgirls
in short skirts, while another confided that he liked to imagine watching a child trying to pee when
unable to do so. For other participants, the appeal of the fantasy centered on the idea that they were
visible—“[I’m] fantasizing about masturbating while watching strippers engage in sex acts on stage.” No
female participants expressed interest in this subtheme.
Domination/submission subtheme. The domination/submission subtheme involves practices related
to BDSM (which implies consent), including bondage and discipline, dominance and submission,
and sadomasochism. On occasions, participants explicitly mentioned their sexual interests for
practices such as power dynamics and domination—“[I’m] fantasizing about being a goddess and
having sex with my worshippers” or “[I like] being spanked myself.” Coding and interpretation
were significantly facilitated when participants explicitly expressed this interest. However, some
participants expressed fantasies in which a specific activity was sexually arousing but failed to
describe the context surrounding the activity. In these cases, the value of combining content
analysis with thematic analysis became apparent. Content analysis, by exploring the meaning of a
discourse, enabled us to associate the types of sexual gratification typically sought through certain
sexual practices with the fantasies described by the participants. For example, any sexual fantasies
related to experiences such as being confined in a chastity cage, undergoing forced cross-gender
dressing, and/or coerced sexual activities or engaging in servile activities were all categorized as
domination/submission—focused fantasies—“[I fantasize] about being forced to masturbate in
front of a group of women.” This subtheme accounted for 10.39% of all sexual fantasies reported
by men, whereas it represented 27.78% of all the fantasies reported by women.
Body fluid subtheme. For certain participants, the focal point of the fantasy was the expulsion of
a bodily fluid—“[I fantasize about] urinating on my partner”—or interest in administering an
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 9
enema. For others, it centered on consuming a bodily fluid. Although urine and feces were the
fluids most often mentioned, some participants admitted to having a sexual interest in semen or
blood. It should be noted that on two occasions participants linked this type of fantasy and
minor-focused fantasies. This subtheme accounted for 7.79% of all sexual fantasies reported by
men, whereas it represented 16.67% of all the fantasies reported by women.
Zoophilia subtheme. The last subtheme associated with paraphilic sexual fantasies involves an
interest in zoophilia, which is defined as all sexual fantasies that involve real animals. The
occurrence of such fantasies was extremely low among our sample: 4.07% of the total of fantasies.
Except for one participant who fantasized about becoming an animal, all zoophilic sexual fantasies
were associated with another theme or subtheme, including minor-focused sexual fantasies, body
fluid focused fantasies, promiscuous-focused sexual fantasies, and even non-contact sexual
fantasies. In one-third of the zoophilic sexual fantasies, participants described themselves as
observers rather than participants.
Theme three: Unrealistic-focused fantasies
While it could be argued that a sexual fantasy is inherently fictious, as it originates from the
host’s imagination, fantasies in this category deal with situations and contexts that are highly
unlikely or impossible, ranging from having a sexual partner with unusual genitalia to scenarios
in which the participant engages in sexual relationships with a fantastical character (e.g., were-
wolves, vampires). For certain participants, this category was closely associated with minor-focused
fantasies; “I’ve fantasized about women (girls) who have both a penis and vagina.” For others,
the appeal of the fantasy was its fictional nature—“[I’m] fantasizing about sex with monsters”
or “having sex with an anthropomorphic cartoon character, having sex while being an anthro-
pomorphic cartoon character.”
Theme four: Incestuous fantasies
The fourth theme involves any sexual fantasy in which an interest in sexual activities involving
an immediate (father, mother, brother, sister) or extended (cousin, uncle, aunt, sister in-law)
family member was mentioned. Such fantasies were found in similar proportions among both
men (8.44%) and women (11.11%) in our sample. Participants were often concise about the
content of this fantasy, in most cases simply stating “incest.” The more explicit descriptions
given here are therefore not necessarily representative—“with my sister”; “I have had sexual
fantasies of sexual situations with my sister-in-law and also nieces via my in-law side of family.”
Theme five: Promiscuous-focused fantasies
Sexual promiscuity is understood as engaging in sexual activities with different individuals during
a short period of time, with little emotional connection to the participants, who are not restricted
to specific types or individuals. These characteristics were found in the sexual fantasies of four
men in our sample, who expressed an interest in engaging in sexual relations with individuals
they knew little (friends with benefits, classmates, work colleagues) or nothing (total strangers
or homeless individuals). The descriptions of these fantasies were generally brief (three to five
words) and lacked details.
Theme six: Adult-focused fantasies
To be categorized under this theme, participants had to explicitly state the age of the sexual
partner and/or use terms typically associated with adults (e.g., “man” or “woman”). In this
restrictive context, adult-focused fantasies was one of the least frequently reported sexual fantasy
themes (2.59% for men and 0% for women). All of the fantasies in this group were linked to
10 E. GARANT ETAL.
the promiscuous-focused fantasy theme, and participants provided very few details, typically
including generic terms such as “men” or “women.” This category included a diverse array of
activities, from massages to sexual intercourse, and occasionally extended to relationships involv-
ing multiple partners, who might be children and/or animals.
Theme seven: Group-focused fantasies
Group sexuality was the least common theme in our sample, on a par with the two described
above and accounting for only 4 out of the 172 sexual fantasies shared by participants (men,
2.59%; women, 0%). We defined this category as an interest in participating in sexual activities
with two or more people. It should be noted that whenever these fantasies were mentioned by
a participant, they were consistently related to the theme of minor-focused fantasies. For certain
participants, the fantasy revolved around the presence of one or more children—“[I fantasize
about] being with an adult woman and a young girl at same time.” Others were interested in
imagining themselves as a child among adults—“I fantasize about being my 11-year-old self and
having [sexual intercourse] with a man, or multiple men.”
The overlap of sexual fantasy themes most frequently found are shown in the table below
(Table 2).
Subsample comparison analysis
The subsample of men (N = 100) and women (N = 12) in this qualitative study was compared
with the rest of the sample (N = 269 for men and N = 27 for women) from Garant and Proulx
(2024). No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were found in either the men or women
subsamples regarding demographic variables or sexual attraction to children. However, significant
differences (p < 0.05) were found for 15 JSFQ items among men. Specifically, the men in this
study scored higher than the rest of the men on items related to homosexual sex, sexual pro-
miscuity, group sexuality with women, and paraphilic interests like voyeurism, transvestism, body
fluids, and zoophilia.
There were no statistically significant differences between our subsample of women and the
rest of the women regarding the JSFQ items, which is not surprising given there were only 12
women in this study compared to 27 , but there were several comparisons with moderate to
large effect sizes: cross-dressing (Cohen’s d = 0.52), sex with a woman with very small breasts
(Cohen’s d = 0.52), and zoophilia (Cohen’s d = 0.55).
Discussion
Our goal was to examine the sexual fantasies of adults reporting attraction to minors through
qualitative analysis, highlighting their subjectivity and unique characteristics. By presenting these
findings, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of this sexuality without pathologi-
zation or sensationalization. To achieve this, we built on the quantitative results of Garant and
Proulx (2024) using both deductive (content analysis) and inductive (thematic analysis) approaches.
Table 2. Theme overlaps.
Theme overlaps
Minor
focused
fantasies
Other
paraphilic
fantasies
Unrealistic-focused
fantasies
Incestuous
fantasies
Promiscuous
focused
fantasies
Adult
focused
fantasies
Group sex
fantasies
Minor focused fantasies X X X X
Other paraphilic fantasies X X X
Unrealistic-focused fantasies X
Incestuous fantasies
Promiscuous focused fantasies X X
Adult focused fantasies X X X X
Group sex fantasies X X
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 11
The subjectivity and idiosyncrasy of sexual fantasies
Although the content of the sexual fantasies described by participants in our sample was diverse,
the fantasies included the presence of a child for many participants (men = 30.51%; women =
22.22%). Sexual attraction to minors observed among all of our participants, and more partic-
ularly children, may contribute to blurring the boundaries for other sexual interests that are
also taboo (e.g., zoophilia, necrophilia, uro/scatophilia) (Gane et al., 2024; Yakeley & Wood,
2014). It would be interesting to see if this relationship was bidirectional, for example, that
individuals interested in content depicting zoophilia or other taboo subjects are more likely to
report fantasies about children. Nevertheless, although minor-focused fantasies were one of the
most frequently described fantasies by participants in our sample, they were not always depicting
sexual activity with a child.
Although predominantly of a paraphilic nature, sexual fantasies of adults reporting sexual
attraction to minors were diverse in terms of the sexual activities described (BDSM-like activities,
fluid-related practices, zoophilia), the dynamic with the sexual partner (e.g., unequal power
relations), and the type of sexual practices, which went from romantic/loving relationships to
highly violent practices that sometimes included death. Research on sexual fantasies tends to
focus on specific types of sexual fantasies (e.g., voyeurism, exhibitionism, BDSM) rather than
looking at a broader range of scenarios. The approach used here generated descriptions of fan-
tasies that were sometimes very specific (e.g., death/necrophilia, zoophilia), but was also the
most effective way to examine the subjectivity and idiosyncrasy inherent in sexual fantasies. Not
all of the specific fantasies described by those in our sample were uncommon. For example,
research such as that by Castellini et al. (2018), Seto et al. (2021), and Joyal and Carpentier
(2022) shows that paraphilic fantasies (from fetishism to zoophilia) and fantasies involving
BDSM-like practices are consistently found in studies of the general population. Moreover, Seto
et al.’s (2021) and Joyal and Carpentier’s (2022) studies also suggest high co-occurrence between
paraphilic fantasies.
Several participants described fantasies in which they did not appear but were instead an
omnipresent observer who could create and modify the scenario according to their preferences.
Such fantasies could potentially indicate recognition that certain actions would, if enacted, be
illegal, and participants therefore distance themselves from them by not appearing in fantasies
that include them.
Results of the content and thematic analysis of sexual fantasies reported by adults
attracted to minors
Our qualitative data allowed us to partially reproduce the findings of Garant and Proulx (2024)
by identifying all five factors they reported. While we combined some of the factors in that
research—for instance putting male- and female-focused fantasies into the category of adult-focused
fantasies—and defined other themes more broadly—for instance by incorporating domination
and submission practices into one subtheme—we still partially reproduced their results in a
quarter of the sample.
The main contribution of this study lies in its enhancement of the understanding of the
sexual fantasies of adults reporting sexual attraction to minors and the identification of themes
that were not revealed by the exploratory factor analysis of the quantitative data by Garant and
Proulx (2024), particularly with regard to five themes: Minor-focused fantasies, Adult-focused
fantasies, Unrealistic-focused fantasies, Paraphilic-focused fantasies and Incestuous fantasies
Although minor-focused fantasies were not treated as a separate theme in Garant and Proulx
(2024) but were instead included in Partner/Relational-focused fantasies, such fantasies were so
prevalent in our study that we felt they constituted a separate theme. However, the components
of both their theme and ours are essentially the same—a desire for sexual relations and/or a
romantic relationship with a minor partner and more frequently, a child. Our theme, however,
12 E. GARANT ETAL.
includes an additional element, reflecting some participants’ interest in seeing themselves as a
child, either with another child or with an adult—a finding that echoes research on the concept
of emotional congruence with children—an excessive emotional and/or social attachment to
children and their world (Finkelhor, 1984; Paquette & McPhail, 2020)—and Hsu and Bailey’s
(2017) concept of autopedophilia, where many men attracted to children reported being sexually
aroused by the fantasy of being a child themselves. It would be interesting to investigate this
aspect more fully, both to understand its significance in the sexual fantasy realm of adults
reporting sexual attraction to minors and to determine if it is a new dimension of minor-focused
sexual fantasies.
Another theme that complements the research in Garant and Proulx (2024) is the Adult-focused
fantasies. While we also found that fantasies in this category were more about the age of the
partner than their gender, such fantasies were seldom cited (men = 2.59%; women = 0%). In
comparison, Stephens and McPhail (2021) found that 14.2% of their sample (16.7% women,
14%; men) mentioned having sexual fantasies that involved both child and adult. However,
before we can claim that adults reporting sexual attraction to minors do not fantasize about
adults, we need to consider two aspects of the present study. First, for a fantasy to be included
in this theme, it had to explicitly reference an adult sexual partner. If this aspect was not men-
tioned, the fantasy was categorized solely according to the activity involved (e.g., spanking one’s
sexual partner) and not in relation to the type of sexual partner (e.g., adult or child). Nearly
two-thirds of the sexual fantasies described did not specify the age of the imagined partner.
Participants may have assumed we understood they were referring to fantasies about minors
(and even to children) given the nature of the survey and how they were recruited, but this is
an assumption. While the proportion of fantasies involving minors might have been higher if
more participants had provided details about the imagined sexual partner, the proportion of
fantasies involving adults could also have been greater, given that only 13% of our participants
reported being exclusively attracted to minors. However, if we had required additional informa-
tion in the description of participants’ fantasies (e.g., age, gender, activity), it is possible that
these criteria would have been included, but at the expense of allowing participants to freely
express their fantasies without restrictions.
The Unrealistic-focused fantasies theme highlights the wide range of subjectivity inherent in
fantasies, with boundaries defined solely by the individual’s imagination. While fantasies can be
extrapolated from everyday events, this theme serves as a reminder that they can also be
unbounded by reality, such as participants imagining themselves engaging in sexual activities
with mythical creatures. The measure of sexual fantasies we used (JSFQ) did not include any
items about fantasies regarding mythical or fantastical creatures (e.g., werewolves, vampires) or
activities (e.g., having sex on a different planet) so the factor analysis by Garant and Proulx
(2024) could not have captured this.
This finding underscores the importance of using a qualitative approach to explore sexual
fantasies, which brings to light elements that might otherwise have been overlooked. One of the
key limitations of quantitative studies on sexual fantasies is that the scope of fantasies explored
is restricted by the specific questions asked. Including even more questions still does not ensure
comprehensive coverage of all fantasies and is often impractical in terms of survey length.
Therefore, the qualitative approach used in our research proves highly valuable. By allowing
participants to freely express the types of sexual fantasies they have, even a single mention of
a unique fantasy can add depth and complement the findings of a quantitative study.
Adults reporting sexual attraction to minors, like other people, may also report paraphilic
sexual interests as defined by the DSM. The JSFQ contains questions about various paraphilic
fantasies, but these cannot be grouped into a single “paraphilias” factor unless there is an
underlying latent factor, like “paraphilia proneness,” which would be shown by strong intercor-
relations. Since such intercorrelations were not found, Garant and Proulx (2024) did not identify
a general paraphilias factor. However, the qualitative analysis allowed us to identify distinct
paraphilia subthemes, which we organized under a broader theme of paraphilias other than
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 13
chronophilias (age-related attractions: Seto, 2017), represented in the theme of minor-focused
fantasies. Participants in the present study shared far more in-depth and detailed information
than that explored in Garant and Proulx (2024), and our findings suggest that the prevalence
of such fantasies justifies a paraphilic theme and subtheme (although the presence of a bidirec-
tional relationship between paraphilic sexual interest and fantasies involving children has not
been explored). For example, regarding body fluid fantasies, participant discourse showed that
this interest extended not only to type of bodily fluids (e.g., urine, feces, blood, semen) but also
to what the participants fantasized about doing with fluids (expel, receive, or consume). Future
research could incorporate more consideration of this specific type of fantasy and how all the
other subtheme comprising paraphilic sexual fantasies are expressed.
Finally, our analysis identified a sexual fantasy that was not noted in Garant and Proulx
(2024): the Incestuous fantasies theme. The revision of the WSFQ by Joyal et al. (2015) that
resulted in the JSFQ does not include questions about incest. As there seems to be a recent
increase in pornographic content that features actors pretending to be related (May, 2015) and
keywords such as “step mom,” “mom,” and “step sister” are among the top 20 internet searches
on pornographic platforms (Carrotte et al., 2020), it might be relevant to incorporate this cat-
egory of sexual fantasies into future research with both adults reporting sexual attraction to
minors and people in the general population.
Limitations
This study has three key limitations. First, only about one quarter of the original sample answered
the open-ended question. Since the preceding part of our questionnaire was a quantitatively
validated measure that explored different types of sexual fantasies, it is possible that many par-
ticipants skipped this question because they were tired of answering questions about sexuality
and/or because the entirety of their sexual fantasies had already been discussed. This response
fatigue may also be reflected in the very short responses given by some participants (20% gave
responses of five or fewer words), which meant we did not get full descriptions of participant
fantasies.
As we noted, participants often did not specify the ages of the people they fantasized about
and although the majority of the sample preferred children aged 13 or younger (89.8%), it
remains that 10.2% of our sample reported a preference for pubescent and post-pubescent ado-
lescents, aged between 14 and 17. This could have impacted our results, as it is possible that
the prevalence of sexual fantasies involving an adult sexual partner is more frequent among
participants with a preference for adolescents than among those with a preference for children
aged 13 or younger. Future research should therefore focus more on samples of men with a
preference for adolescents to provide further clarification on the content of their sexual fantasies.
Also, longer and more detailed responses may have resulted in fantasies that described not only
activities but imagined partners and settings. A future study that skipped the JFSQ and focused
on open-ended questions about fantasies could shed more light on the sexual fantasies of adults
reporting sexual attraction to minors.
Our sub-sample of men was not representative of the rest of the sample who did not answer
the open-ended question at the end of the JSFQ, because they had higher fantasy ratings on some
items. This is not surprising, because we might expect individuals with more numerous or intense
fantasies to have more to share about them. Nonetheless, our results may not generalize to indi-
viduals with lower fantasy scores. The small number of women in our sample meant we were
underpowered for statistical comparison. Though there were no significant differences, inspection
of effect sizes also suggests that women in this study were different from the other women.
Second, our reliance on self-reported data raises the possibility that participants provided
incomplete information about the content of their fantasies, the extent of their attraction to
children and/or adults, or their legal history. There is no other way to directly assess sexual
fantasies, however, so this is an inherent limitation of research on sexual fantasies. To address
14 E. GARANT ETAL.
this limitation, future research could gather additional data (e.g., pornography use, partner
reports, attention in the lab) to triangulate the collected information.
Finally, the sample included only a small number of women participants. However, several
studies have indicated that sexual attraction toward children appears to be more common among
men than women (Joyal & Carpentier, 2017; Seto, 2017), although it is difficult to say whether
this statement is also true regarding attraction to adolescents. The relatively lower number of
female participants recruited, despite having recruited participants through different online
communities, seems to align with the current stage of knowledges.
Conclusion
Discussing the content of sexual fantasies raises a paradoxical concern: while sexual fantasies are
a common aspect of human sexuality, they are also highly personal and private. Choosing not to
reveal one’s sexual fantasies, even to a romantic partner, can be done for a variety of reasons,
such as to avoid being perceived differently and/or by fear of being stigmatized (Joyal et al., 2015;
Seehuus et al., 2022). An individual might also opt to retain their sexual fantasy as private matter
for the very reason that it’s nothing more than that: simple curiosity about an imaginary scenario.
Although fantasizing is usually a pleasurable experience, at the end of our questionnaire,
several participants referred to the suffering they had experienced due to their sexual attraction
to children. Some participants mentioned:
I think [the questionnaire] could go deeper. I’m desperate for therapy… I’ll answer a million questions happily.
I struggle with my attraction to children partially because it is linked with my sadism. I’m afraid of telling
anyone … Still, I’m committed to never hurting a child because I know how evil it would be.
I’m tired of being a monster … I’m not a monster. I’m a person and I have feelings.
Other participants criticized our approach, saying that we were disparaging sexual attraction
to children or that our study might shed too much light on a subject that risks fueling more
social hatred toward adults reporting sexual attraction to minors (see Asbury, 2021). In a context
in which not only the general population but also many specialists admit to feeling a certain
level of revulsion about unconventional sexual interests, particularly, sexual attraction to children
(Roche & Stephens, 2022), this research makes an important contribution by suggesting that
investigation of unconventional sexual fantasies and development of therapeutic support should
consider more than the content of sexual fantasies. Further questions should involve intensity
and impact (is it invasive, obsessive, and causes distress to the individual?), durability (over how
long a period has the individual has been fantasying about a specific sexual scenario?) and
exclusivity (is the individual sexually aroused only by unconventional fantasies?).
Acknowledgments
The first authors would like to thank all the participants who contributed to this study as well as all the online
communities who agreed to promote and/or give us feedback on our questionnaire: B4U-ACT, VirPed, Open MAP
Community, MAP Support Club (Prostasia), Visions of Alice, Boyland & Pedofilie. The first author would like to
thank the financial assistance of the Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
This work was supported by Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture.
JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 15
ORCID
Michael C. Seto http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1212-3388
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