Disclaimer: like most pedophiles, I have never approached a child with anything sexual or otherwise inapporpriate, and I don't plan ever to do so. I recognize the harm in such actions, and I don't want to hurt the very people I love. If you expect AMA with a child molester, this ain't it.
The account is a throwaway, hope you'll understand this decision given the sensitivity of the topic.
Edit: Thank you for keeping civil and genuine in your questions. I did envision hostility, yet here you are, amazing as always. Lemmy is a wonderful place to be, thanks to you all!
Edit 2: Apparently we have another brave pedophile here in the comments, and he came with a good note I should include in the post: if you find yourself attracted to minors, that's okay. Acting on your desires is dangerous, but having them isn't. If you'd like to have some support and/or community that would help you get your bearings or just listen without any prejudice (we're all in the same boat), there are places that can help you. Visit VirPed (18+) or MAP Support Club (13+; scroll down for details), or refer to other resources through the MAP Resources website.
I had special interest in younger children since I was about 9 - but back then I wouldn't call it attraction, I just felt very comfortable being around kids aged 3-7 (I developed normally and was perfectly alright around peers, there was just something warm about being with younger ones)
But if we talk straight up attraction, it sparked when I was about 13, was initially to the boys on the countryside and was predominantly sexual (and remained predominantly sexual for boys ever since). But then girls qickly caught my eye too, and I felt all sort of attraction to them - sexual, romantic, platonic...you name it. It was not porn that started this, although in my early years of pedophilia I did find some of the CSAM (not illegal in my country even for adults to watch, although since about 15-16 I do not do it out of moral side of things)
Not OP, but also a pedophile. For me it was probably when I started masturbating a few weeks before I turned 17. I thought about boys, but I suppressed it and told myself I was just gay (which was bad enough because I was religious). I did later start to use hentai (shota, specifically).