Pedophilia is normal

I want to begin by saying that Pro hasn't provided a reason why pedophilia is "normal" and has yet to define what they mean by "normal", so for this round, I will assume they mean "natural, as in, not a disorder". I also agree that using pedophilia will not hereafter refer to acting child molesters, only to the attraction itself. Based on that, I will insert the following definition of a Mental Disorder: A mental disorder, also called a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a mental or behavioral pattern or anomaly that causes either suffering or an impaired ability to function in ordinary life (disability), and which is not developmentally or socially normative. From there we can see that pedophilia falls under every category in that definition. It is a mental and behavioral pattern (Imagining and seeking out children for sexual gratification), it causes suffering for the pedophile because they know their actions are wrong even if they cannot help it, it impairs their ability to function in ordinary life because their access to the objects of their desire is severely limited and barricaded with strict laws and protective parents, it is not normal in the developmental process of sexual attraction, and it certainly is not normal in civilized society. So by all of these, we can conclude that pedophilia is a mental disorder. If Pro wants a new definition, then let them take it up with the established psychology standards. Pedophilia being a mental disorder is actually constructive to Pro's case, since it means the pedophile cannot help their attraction, so Pro fighting against such distinction will be disastrous to their claims. I also want to point out that pedophilia is a sexual preference and requires a person to have sexual desires toward children under the age of consent. Merely enjoying a child's presence more than an adults does not count as pedophilia, there must be sexual desire involved. With that in order, we move on to the legal laws of pedophilia. The age of consent is varied in each state, so I will use 16 from now on as default. The age of consent is based on the mental readiness of a person to adequately understand sexual desire and sexual actions. The threshold itself is arbitrary, but the effect is to prevent children from being manipulated by those who are older than them to perform sexual acts. Most children from the age of 1-12 have no concept of sexual desire, the attention they might receive from an older person would be naively misinterpreted by the child, and any sexual attention would confuse or even frighten them. They might start finding other children around them to be attractive, but not in a sexual way. This type of attraction is often called, Puppy dog love, as it resembles the pure, non-sexual, affection one might have toward a puppy. I will point out that this is not always the case, puberty is a process that begins at the average age of 12 and ends around 16, but some children will experience a must faster development, especially if they are exposed to sex more often (Whether through television, conversations, finding porn, or by being molested). This is the basis behind the idea of consent, that children who haven't completed their puberty stages are not ready or even capable of giving consent. Outlier children who do not follow the average and mature faster do not count as exceptions. Addressing Pro's scenario of a 15 year old being with an 11 year old, that would indeed have social stigma and would almost never be allowed. The sole reason being that the 15 year old has other interests that the 11 year old likely does not have. Again, sexual desire is likely not present in the 11 year old and even if they did have sex, it is more than likely to be from manipulation. The 15 year old did not suddenly develop a mental disorder, they already had it to begin with, or they wouldn't be interested in such a young child. If the initial relationship is not sexual in nature, then the 15 year old isn't a pedophile, and they are not really "together". Sexual desire is the root basis for nearly all relationships concerning Boy/Girlfriends, Spouses, or just romantic love partners, when sexual desire is not present, the relationship is platonic and harmless. The problem with allowing an older person to be with a much younger person is that sexual desire, if not explicit, is unknown between the two. If there is truly no sexual desire, then their relationship is just friends, if there is, then the relationship is sexual. Since pedophilia deals solely with sexual desire, it must be assumed that a pedophiles attention towards a child is based on sexual desire, and thus could lead to sexual acts. A 16 year old has no reason to call a 13 year old their Girl/Boyfriend unless they intend to perform sexual acts with the 13 year old, otherwise, they are just friends. I leave it to my opponents imagination as to why sexual acts below the age of consent is prohibited in modern society.