10 Famous People You'll Be Shocked To Learn Were Total Perverts

9. Oscar Wilde - Paederastry

Now it certainly should not come as a surprise to many of you to learn that Oscar Wilde was a homosexual man, but that is most definitely not why he features here. After all, homosexual people can be just as much or as little perverted as heterosexual people, am I right, Russia? Wilde was one of the highest profile figures to have ever faced a genuine prison sentence for the supposed crime of being a homosexual man, and his fighting attitude and sense of snarling criticism and ridiculing of his prosecutors have made sure that he is remembered fondly in history as being an extraordinarily brave man. There was, however, a real reason Wilde could have faced a great deal of criticism at the time, and that was due to his fondness of close companionship with young men and teenagers. Whilst it must be made clear that in Wilde's case, what he was doing most certainly not qualify as paedophilia, it is, however, on a very thin moral ground, and even more so at the time. The most well known example of this was his relationship with Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, who was at oldest 19 - Wilde would have been approaching 40 - when the two met. Douglas and Wilde became largely inseparable, with the latter becoming so infatuated by his young companion that he would spend great deals of money to please his every whim. However, things took a turn from morally wobbly to outright seedy when Douglas introduced Wilde to the gay prostitution underground scene, where he met Alfred Taylor, a man who would frequently arrange meetings between Wilde and young, male prostitutes. Though there is no guarantee that any of Wilde's companions were still pre-adulthood, his previous three serious companions - Robert Ross, John Gray and Douglas - had all been of a very young age, particularly in comparison to the writer.