L S/Unsplash Warning: this article contains distressing quotes from perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Researchers have long tried to answer the question: why do some men sexually abuse children? We recently set out to find an answer. In the largest study of child sexual abuse perpetrators’ accounts ever conducted, we systematically analysed nearly 700 adult male perpetrators’ accounts from 39 studies to document the ways these men account for their actions. Some startling revelations The men