When young boys bordered the pirate vessel for the first time
As either captains or volunteers
They discovered the sexual orientation of the crew was the same as that of their companions aboard the merchant of naval vessel where they previously served
Or in the wondering beggar bands where they first encountered the ways of the world
The use of boys as sexual partners was not universally accepted among pirates
Some captains rejected the preface entirely
Not because they were particularly repelled by notions of pederasty
But because they evidently believed the boys were a cause of conflict aboard ship
The men who served on the Bartholomew Roberts empathic in this regard
They subscribed to a set of articles that provided "No boy or women was to be allowed amongst them
If any man were found of seducing any of the latter sex
And carried her to sea, disguised, he was to suffer death"
Significantly there was no penalty for seducing a lad or smuggling him aboard
Pederasty was simply a violation of the rules not a capital crime
The percentage of pedophiles among the general buccaneering population cannot even be guessed
It is known that they were among buccaneers
Some who preferred sexual contact with boys rather than with their fellow adult crew members