Autism

Autism is a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. Since the DSM-5, Asperger syndrome has been included in the autism spectrum.

It has been argued that autistic people who view child pornography should in some situations not be prosecuted because they could be manifesting simulated deviance rather than being motivated by pedophilia. Eustacia Cutler wrote a The Daily Beast post entitled "Autism and Child Pornography: A Toxic Combination" that asserted that "many" Autistic men are attracted to child pornography and that this is "a disturbing trend we cannot ignore".

Cases

Dr. Nick Dubin, author of two books on Asperger syndrome, self-advocate and popular public speaker, was arrested for possession of photos depicting boys ten to 14 years old in a sexually explicit manner. Th event kindled conversations in the autism community about the need for proper sex education for people on the autism spectrum.

James Chadwick, 36, a man with Asperger syndrome, was found to have 184 images and 20 movies of children as young as six, many in the worst category, when his home in Palmerston Road was raided in March 2013. Passing a six month prison sentence suspended for two years at Bournemouth Crown Court on 26 February 2015, Judge John Harrow said: "I expect when you viewed these images you didn't give a moment’s thought to the circumstances in which they were made. It is an appalling industry, and of course it is funded by people like you." In mitigation, David Richards said his client had been diagnosed with "high-functioning autism" during the investigation. Chadwick was given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order until further notice, and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years.

On 23 March 2016, federal judge sentenced Alex Carlsson, a Longwood man who was diagnosed at a young age with Asperger syndrome, to 10 years of probation – a sentence well-below the 6 1/2 years in prison that prosecutors wanted. A psychiatrist had found that he showed signs of pedophilia, in that he was sexually interested in children.