Like many vocal pedophiles on YouTube, Myidisphat touts pedophilia as a matter of freedom of expression. “I think that boy lovers are the most open minded people of this earth,” he writes. “We are extremely caring. Your children would tell us things that they would never tell you. We are better than any parent with children.” His video work draws, as one might expect, a great amount of irate comments, but Myidisphat also attracts his share of admirers, getting compliments from such users like draconis121, and counts among his friends (in YouTube parlance, a “friend” is someone who has sent you a request to be officially connected to your channel) sixteen-year-old fatherxxasmodeus and 2akopilag, a “Young Tuber” with a collection of videos by a boy named Jaeger.
Contrast Myidisphat with YouTube user WMCritest, whose real identity is publicly known. WMCritest, aka Dr. Nigel Leigh Oldfield, is a former science teacher. Outwardly charming, urbane and eloquent, he also has an arrest record for possession of child pornography. Oldfield was taken into custody in August of 2002 when he was spotted taking pictures of children at a shopping mall. Further police investigation turned up over 11,000 images of child pornography on his home computer. He served eight months for possession, and is now a crusader for pedophilia and its many forms as a form of free speech. He even links to his Website, a compendium of articles that support his theories on psychosexuality, as well as a documentation of his struggles with the legal system. His YouTube channel contains a series of text-show videos in which he holds forth on topics of interest for the Minor-Attracted Adult, a term created to bury the stigma attached to the term pedophile. “Part of my sexuality is that of a MAA, yes,” says Dr. Oldfield in the comments to one of his videos. “Indeed, I am not a paedophile, by the correct definition. If I was, I would admit it… as there is no problem in having a clinical condition, per se.