Michael Seto

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Michael Chikong Seto is a Canadian clinical and forensic psychologist and sexologist, best known for empirical work on pedophilia, hebephilia/chronophilias, sexual offending against children, online child sexual exploitation material offending, risk assessment, and prevention. He is associated with the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group and the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research; his Google Scholar profile lists more than 25,000 citations, which makes him one of the most influential contemporary researchers in this area.

Despite his focus on preventionism, Seto's wider influence on the perception of pedophilia is arguably rather humanistic. He consistently develops an understanding of pedophilia as a sexual orientation, one that is as stable and unchangeable as other orientations. This has important clinical implications, including the recognition that conversion therapy is ineffective and harmful. His research is also aimed at distinguishing different levels of risk for offending and identifying different risk factors, thereby destigmatizing the attraction itself. His findings suggest that online offenses, illegal pornographic material, and contact offenses are categories associated with different levels of risk. Moreover, he studies not only the sexual component, but also the component of romantic love in the experiences of people attracted to children and adolescents.

Selected works

• Seto, M. C. (2012). “Is Pedophilia a Sexual Orientation?” Archives of Sexual Behavior.
• Seto, M. C. (2009). “Pedophilia.” Annual Review of Clinical Psychology.
• Seto, M. C. (2019). The Motivation-Facilitation Model of Sexual Offending. Sexual Abuse.
• Seto, M. C., Hanson, R. K., & Babchishin, K. M. (2011). Contact sexual offending by men with online sexual offenses. Sexual Abuse.
• Seto, M. C., Wood, J. M., Babchishin, K. M., & Flynn, S. (2012). Online solicitation offenders are different from child pornography offenders and lower risk contact sexual offenders. Law and Human Behavior.
• Martijn, F. M., Babchishin, K. M., Pullman, L. E., & Seto, M. C. (2020). Sexual attraction and falling in love in persons with pedohebephilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior.
• Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. Archives of Sexual Behavior.
• Levitan, J. and Seto, M. C. (2025) "Understanding romantic attraction to children through exploration of its patterns, components, and correlates" The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality