B4U-ACT is an advocacy group that refers to itself as resource for mental health professionals who treat persons it calls “minor-attracted people” (MAPs). It claims to “promote a science-informed understanding” about people who are sexually attracted “to children or adolescents,” and seeks to “support them living in truth and dignity.” ^{1 2}

The group’s work with persons inclined to pedophilia is highly controversial. A board member of a British LGBT-interest charity resigned after it emerged that he had given a lecture to a B4U-ACT conference in 2011, at which he argued that “Allowing for a form of non-diagnosable minor attraction is exciting, as it potentially creates a sexual or political identity by which activists, scholars and clinicians can begin to better understand Minor Attracted Persons.” ³

Background

B4U-ACT was established in 2003 as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization based in Westminster, Maryland. B4U-ACT frames itself as a tool for “mental health professionals and researchers” and the public to learn more about persons inclined to pedophilia (which the group calls “minor-attracted persons” or “MAPs”) and to persuade them to “consider the effects of stereotyping, stigma, and fear” have on persons inclined to pedophilia “before they talk, write, or make public statements” about them. ⁴

The organization’s mission is to “work toward the day” when “MAPs” can “find mental health professionals they can trust,” and justifies its activities by reasoning that “the best way to protect children” is “to promote the mental health” of those it calls “MAPs.” ⁵

Activities

A volunteer staff member of B4U-ACT was interviewed for a documentary by a human rights attorney “on the day-to-day lives of MAPs.” B4U-ACT has given interviews for Matter, CBC Radio, The Los Angeles Times, and Slate with article titles such as “How Can We Stop Pedophiles? Stop treating them like monsters.” ⁶

B4U-ACT hosts “workshops for mental health professionals and students,” delivers presentations at scientific and medical conferences, speaks to university classrooms and journalists, collaborate with researchers, and runs “support groups” for persons inclined to pedophilia “and their friends and family members.” The group lauds itself for its allegedly rational handling of the issue, and claims that in its pursuits “integrity is never compromised” and “diversity is recognized and respected.” ⁷

The organization has an official Twitter account where it posts content related to the mental health care of pedophiles. In May 2022, it promoted an ongoing study conducted by researchers Michael Seto, Dr. Martin Lalumiere, and Kailey Roche for the Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research at the University of Ottawa, Canada, calling for “eligible” participants to offer help to the researchers. ⁸

B4U-ACT publishes a quarterly review known as the B4QR, available for free on its website. The “featured scholar” of the Spring 2022 issue of B4QR was Jasmin H. Stevenson, a doctoral candidate at Nottingham Trent University. ⁹

Leadership

Russell Dick is a co-founder and the “chairperson” of B4U-ACT. He attended the University of Maryland School of Social Work from 1975 to 1977. He worked as the director of social work at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville, Maryland from March 1973 until June 2010. He also worked as a private practice clinical social worker from November 1987 until January 2018 for patients “with addictions, abuse, sexual issues, attraction to minors, depression, anxiety, trauma history, relationship problems, grief and loss.” ¹⁰

The other co-founder of B4U-ACT was Michael F. Melsheimer, a convicted sex offender who died in 2010. ¹¹

Controversy

B4U-ACT’s work with persons inclined to pedophilia is highly controversial. The organization has attempted to reframe the name for persons inclined to child sex abuse as “Minor-Attracted Persons” or “MAPs” rather than “pedophiles”; a book by a researcher sympathetic to the project noted, “B4U-ACT uses the term MAPs, rather than the term ‘pedophile,’ to decrease stigma against this group.” ¹²

Critics of the reframing project express concern that by rebranding “pedophilia from an activity to a group identity,” B4U-ACT and its allies could “establish rights for pedophiles — and once pedophiles have rights, nothing will be allowed to contravene those rights.” ¹³

In 2022, A board member of a U.K. LGBT-interest charity resigned after it emerged that he had given a lecture to a B4U-ACT conference in 2011, at which he argued that “Allowing for a form of non-diagnosable minor attraction is exciting, as it potentially creates a sexual or political identity by which activists, scholars and clinicians can begin to better understand Minor Attracted Persons.” ¹⁴

The resigning board member issued a statement claiming, “It was my understanding in 2011 that B4U-ACT was an organization that promotes treatments to prevent offending by pedophiles. I believed at the time that the purpose of the conference was to enable better treatments and interventions that prevent harm to children. I would not have attended the symposium otherwise. I have not been affiliated with B4U-ACT since.” ¹⁵

1. “B4U-ACT – Living in Truth and Dignity.” B4U-ACT.org. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.b4uact.org/.
2. “About Us.” B4U-ACT.org. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.b4uact.org/about-us/.
3. Brown, Jon. “Transgender Kids’ Charity Trustee Resigns after ‘minor-Attracted Persons’ Speech.” New York Post, October 6, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/10/06/transgender-kids-charity-trustee-resigns-after-minor-attracted-persons-speech/.
4. “About Us.” B4U-ACT.org. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.b4uact.org/about-us/.
5. “About Us.” B4U-ACT.org. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.b4uact.org/about-us/.
6. “Provide a Unique Perspective.” B4U-ACT.org. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.b4uact.org/plan-your-visit/.
7. “About Us.” B4U-ACT.org. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.b4uact.org/about-us/.
8. “B4U-ACT.” Twitter. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://twitter.com/B4U_ACT.
9. “B4QR Volume 2, Issue 2 Out Now.” B4U-ACT.org. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.b4uact.org/b4qr_spring_2022_announcement/.
10. “Russell Dick.” LinkedIn. Accessed 16 May 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/russell-dick-7ba74610/.
11. Bleyer, Jennifer. “The Counterintuitive, Distressing but Necessary Way to Stop Childhood Sexual Abuse.” Slate Magazine, September 24, 2012. https://slate.com/technology/2012/09/stop-childhood-sexual-abuse-how-to-treat-pedophilia.html#cx.
12. Oxnevad, Ian. “Professor’s Redefinition of Pedophilia Could Help Offenders Demand Rights.” New York Post, January 1, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/01/01/professors-redefinition-of-pedophilia-could-help-offenders-demand-rights/.
13. Oxnevad, Ian. “Professor’s Redefinition of Pedophilia Could Help Offenders Demand Rights.” New York Post, January 1, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/01/01/professors-redefinition-of-pedophilia-could-help-offenders-demand-rights/.
14. Brown, Jon. “Transgender Kids’ Charity Trustee Resigns after ‘minor-Attracted Persons’ Speech.” New York Post, October 6, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/10/06/transgender-kids-charity-trustee-resigns-after-minor-attracted-persons-speech/.
15. Brown, Jon. “Transgender Kids’ Charity Trustee Resigns after ‘minor-Attracted Persons’ Speech.” New York Post, October 6, 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/10/06/transgender-kids-charity-trustee-resigns-after-minor-attracted-persons-speech/.