An Australian man who admits he is attracted to children as young as seven says he is a 'good paedophile' who will never act on his urges.

The man from Melbourne, known only by his online name of 'Kira', told 60 Minutes Australia he first realised something was terribly wrong as he went through puberty at school.

'When I was about about 15, I was going through school, I was looking at boys, I was finding them sexually attractive,' he said.

At school Kira said he found himself attracted to boys aged seven or eight years old, but as he grew older the age of those he was attracted to stayed the same.

When he realised he was a paedophile, he made a decision never to act on his impulses as he did not want to hurt children.

'I'm not a monster, I've got a morality, I could never bring myself to do something like that. But then - you've got this dark secret inside you as well,' he said.

'Kira' (pictured from behind) says he is not a monster - despite being attracted to seven-year-old boys, he said he could never bring himself to molest a child

Kira said he had no way to change his sexual attraction to little boys, but that he would never act on it.

Dr James Cantor, a psychologist specialising in atypical sexuality, said scientific evidence shows paedophiles are born, not made.

He told 60 Minutes that scientific evidence suggests paedophilia begins before birth, and despite every kind of treatment being tried for more than 100 years, nothing has been shown to change the aberrant desires of paedophiles.

Dr Cantor said the problem stems from some areas in the brain being wrongly connected up to the other areas they shouldn't be networked to, and this can be seen using MRI imaging.

'It (the brain) is accidentally identifying things in the environment that should evoke a parental instinct but instead it's provoking a sexual and erotic instinct,' he told 60 Minutes reporter Liam Bartlett.

Dr Cantor said thousands of people suffer from the problem but many do not act on it and do not go on to harm children.

This group have been labelled 'virtuous paedophiles'.

Virtuous paedophiles know they are sexually attracted to children have sworn themselves to a life of celibacy, and make sure they never touch a child.

Thousands of 'virtuous paedophiles' who have sexual attraction to children but do not want to act on it, are seeking help online from support groups like VirPed.org

According to the American website Association for Sexual Abuse Prevention, sexual attraction to children is a disturbingly common disorder.

Studies have shown one in four adult men anonymously acknowledged some level of sexual attraction to prepubescent children, with up to one in 20 adult men qualifying for a formal diagnosis of paedophilic disorder, the association says on it website.

Experts believe thousands of teenage boys each year come to the horrifying realisation that they are attracted to children and have nowhere to turn for help.

Being born a paedophile does not mean a person will go on to offend or molest children, as many pedophiles don't want to act on their urges, Dr Cantor said.

Todd Nickerson is one such virtuous paedophile.

Aged in his mid-40s, Nickerson is a virgin from Tennessee, USA, who seeks support from others like him in online forums and chat rooms.

Mr Nickerson, who says he never acted on his impulses, outed himself as a 'virtuous paedophile' in 2015 and said it was like a great burden had been lifted from him, as people now take him at face value.

He helps to run an online forum to support others who do not act on their desires.

Online support can be found on a site called Virtuous Pedophiles which has hundreds of members.

Griffith University researcher Danielle Harris from the School of Criminology said there were no services for 'virtuous paedophiles' in Australia - but they were desperately needed.

'(There is) so much more we could do in the prevention space,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.

'We can't arrest our way out of this and it's imperative that we focus our efforts further upstream - on onset and the lead up to it.'

Dr Harris said most people who are unfamiliar with the condition may think it strange - but those familiar with the science were strong advocates for services such as the Stop It Now program in the US.

'Primary prevention - offering more general intervention before something happens, directing resources to at-risk groups and providing more general education and awareness - is the only approach that makes sense.'