What would an evolutionary theorist/ sociobiologist, biologist say, or have said about " pedophilia "?

Question

Please distinguish between Pedophilia of when an adult (say 20-100) has sexual desire torwards Pubescent girls (say 12-16) and the Pedophilia of one whom is sexually aroused at the thought of Pre-pubescent girls (say before menstration i,e 10, 5 etc.).

I am thinking that the latter most likely would be viewed by a biologist/ sociobiologist as a mental pathology, whereas the former may be a purely cultural pheneomena, since many cultures seem to follow and accept such behaviors.

As you are probably aware, many Islamic, and Eastern cultures and even Mormons regularly marry off girls as young as 12, sometimes to much older husbands. Also the crude, but perhaps relevant saying " if it bleeds, it breeds " comes to mind.

This Q is not intended to be an indictment against any of the groups listed, but at base, I want to know what a biologist would say, and perhaps your own views too, TX

Answer 1

I wish to disagree with the previous answer that states that sexual selection is not natural selection.  Sexual selection is a subset of natural selection.  It is just one more problem that an organism must handle in order to produce fertile offspring.  

Answer 2

There is an obvious evolutionary advantage to ephebophilia (the attraction to post pubescent teenagers) as they are more likely able to breed. It is not considered a paraphilia like pedophilia.

The evolutionary basis for paraphilia is in sexual selection, which isn't the same as natural selection. Sexual selection plays a role in evolution which has to do with attraction by arbitrary characteristics. It has little to do with survival. The peacock's feathers aren't necessarily good for the survival of the peacock, but if he can survive long enough to breed and those feathers make it more likely for him to breed then it the characteristic will propagate throughout the species.

Paraphilia is part of the natural variability of the brain, but from an evolutionary standpoint is largely hit or miss as these tendencies aren't generally passed down to offspring -- pedophiles don't breed pedophiles. This is why it is considered out of the ordinary.