It is typical for a child (especially for boys?) to be interested only in his own feelings of lust and not very much in the feelings of other people. In a pedosexual relation they are often passive and accept only techniques which fulfil their own desires (to be caressed, fondled, masturbated, fellated).
Thus, the own sexual desires of the pedophile may not be satisfied by the child. His emotional desires (for love, affection, tenderness) may be neglected by the child too. This situation may be harmful for the pedophile.
An "Anonymous Inquirer" has described this in NMV #59: In boys I never found the mature love I sought:
There was one boy of 14 whom I loved when I was in my 40s. He loved what we did together. He wanted to do more, and suggested new and different ways to do it. I thought that I had found my perfect love. But one day several months into the relationship, I still hadn't found the sense of spiritual and emotional fusion that I expected. It was then that I realized that this boy couldn't ever give me what I sought ... he wasn't emotionally capable of it.
This consideration is also often used as an argument against pedosexual relations in general. This is logically inconsistent. It is the problem of the pedophile how to handle his own harm caused by his own decisions. Other people can argue only against harm of the child.
By the harm for the adult considered here, the child may be harmed indirectly, by feeling that the adult is unhappy in this relation. But the adult is usually much more unhappy if there is no sex in the relation, thus the probability of harm during this mechanism will be greater without sex.
But, nontheless, it may be an argument for the pedophile himself not to seek contact with children.
Let's remark here that this is a special problem of relations with preadolescent children. For ephebophiles, it usually does not exist.
Let's remark also that there are exclusions. There are also young children which are able to return love.
And, last not least, the sexual desire of the pedophile is much different from the desire of a straight heterophile. The pleasure of the child is a central point of the sexual desire of the pedophile. His feelings are not so much centered around his own genitals. Thus, for many pedophiles the sexual inactivity of the child is not (at least not very) harmful.