several theories

There are several theories as to how pedophilia became as common as it is, and there may be truth to all of them. It is worthwhile noting, however, that pedophilic traits are quite common, that at least several percent of men are exclusive or near-exclusive pedophiles, and that any trait that is present in more than 1% of the population strongly suggests that evolutionary pressure has selected for that trait.

That said, the child care model is a popular one with a lot of solid evidence behind it. Mongolian gerbils are one mammal which has such a function by way of a certain percentage of males which are subfertile and also gravitate towards the young, spending considerable time nurturing them. Likewise, many pedophilic traits are closely associated with good parenting, and are doubtless selected for.

Another model is neoteny, an evolutionary model in which juvenile traits are retained into adulthood. These traits, which include such things as plasticity of mind, must also be selected for. Human beings (and also dogs) are clearly neotenous - the only question is whether there is such a link.

One of our posters has a theory regarding the introduction of humans to cold climates, the use of clothing which prevented normal sexual development, and the rise of pedophiles to assure that normal sexual development