Johann Hari's very interesting article about paedophilia ("The sad truth about child molesters", 25 March) briefly mentions that almost all paedophiles have been sexually abused themselves, implying that this is a causative factor in their orientation and behaviour. Although I am not an expert in this field, I wonder if this is true.
My reason for doubting it is my contact as befriender over six years with an ex-Rampton patient, who had been sectioned as a result of a minor sexual offence when he was 17. He remained in psychiatric hospitals for 25 years until his premature death. He had countless interviews with forensic psychiatrists and psychologists. During endless probing into his childhood and youth, he had at some point mentioned an instance of sexual abuse. This immediately entered his records and became fact, yet I suspect that he told them what they wanted to hear because he thought that it would work to his advantage (it actually had the opposite effect).
Do convicted paedophiles experience the same pressures to describe sexual abuse in their childhood? I assume that there are many people who have suffered child sexual abuse who do not become paedophiles.
Joyce Rosser
London N8
