Todd Nickerson describes himself as a non-offending minor attracted person, a ‘virtuous paedophile’.

The 43-year-old is one of a handful of paedophiles who are ‘out’ in the US and believes that his underage attraction should be understood as a sexual orientation to be controlled rather than feared.

“I am a paedophile. I’m not a monster. I have the attraction but I don’t act on it,” he told Barcroft TV in a new documentary.

“I have never ever sexually abused a child and I never will. I do not look at child porn, I never will. I obey the laws, I respect the laws, I respect society’s position on this. I understand it and agree with it.”

Todd Nickerson is a 'virtuous paedophile'. Source: Barcroft TV

Nickerson runs an online forum called 'VirPed', a support network for those who find themselves attracted to children but control their urges and refuse to consume child pornography.

It has thousands of members who use the site to "remain law-abiding".

Like Nickerson they refer to themselves as 'virtuous paedophiles', 'ethical paedophiles' or 'gold star paedophiles'.

"Not all paedophiles are child molesters and not all child molesters are paedophiles," he said.

"A paedophile is strictly speaking just somebody who has sexual attraction to children — they may act on it, they may not.