Paraphilic Crime

Necrophilia: someone who has sexual relations with a corpse or parts of a corpse

(partialism). Some men are pseudonecrophiles—persons who pretend to have sex with

the dead. John has fantasized about being with a dead person for some time. He has

attended several funerals and often reads literature about funeral parlors, death,

cremation, and burials. He understands that digging up women after they have died and

been buried is a crime, but his urge to be with a corpse is overpowering. John finds his

outlet online where he can enter chat rooms that focus on death. He has also used

prostitutes to go with him to cemeteries to have sex on the graves of deceased women.

Sometimes he pays prostitutes who specialize in paraphilia to ice themselves down so

their skin is cold to the touch and cover themselves in white powder to simulate the

appearance of a corpse. The woman crawls into a coffin, and John is able to join her for

a sexual encounter where the “corpse” does nothing except to simulate being dead.

There is no rejection toward John, something he deeply fears, and no humiliation for

potential underperforming. From the perspective of the prostitute, she is performing a

service that keeps John from committing real acts of necrophilia. She compares her

services to that of any prostitute who gets paid to be a sex worker.

Case 2

Hair fetish: a person sexually aroused by the sight, smell, or touch of another person’s

hair. Wally cannot recall why he has an attraction to hair, but he knows he has a strong

compulsion to touch a person’s hair without their consent. Now in his early 20s, Wally

finds himself traveling on public transit where he often sits behind women. At first, he

resisted the impulse to touch their hair, but gradually and carefully he began reaching

Describe the case study you selected.

Explain the situation or behaviors exhibited in the case and whether they constitute noncriminal paraphilia or criminal paraphilia. Justify your explanation and provide an example.

Explain whether committing this crime would classify the offender as a sexual predator or a sex offender. Justify your explanation and provide an example.

Explain whether you believe the internet and social media influences paraphilic behavior. Justify your explanation and provide an example.