A Place for Paedophiles is a British documentary that was televised on 21 April 2009. Produced and presented by Louis Theroux

Louis Theroux

Louis Sebastian Theroux is an English broadcaster best known for his Gonzo style journalism on the television series Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends and When Louis Met.... His career started off in journalism and bears influences of notable writers in his family such as his father, Paul Theroux and...

, the documentary ran for 80 minutes, and took place at Coalinga State Hospital

Coalinga State Hospital

Coalinga State Hospital is a state mental hospital in Coalinga, California.The facility opened on September 5, 2005 and was California’s newest state hospital, the first to be constructed in the state in more than 50 years. It is a maximum security civil-commitment facility built to ensure that...

, a hospital for paedophiles. Theroux was the first film-maker to be allowed to film and interview the inmates at Coalinga State Hospital

Coalinga State Hospital

Coalinga State Hospital is a state mental hospital in Coalinga, California.The facility opened on September 5, 2005 and was California’s newest state hospital, the first to be constructed in the state in more than 50 years. It is a maximum security civil-commitment facility built to ensure that...

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Reception

The program was widely praised for its approach of the subject of paedophilia. Stewart Turner of blogs.orange.co.uk/tv said "It was a brave documentary, unafraid to portray sex-offenders as the deeply flawed human beings rather than sub-human bogeymen as is often (perhaps rather conveniently) the case." Leicester Mercury noted the programme as being "a brilliantly-made, well-observed documentary. Fascinating, not sensationalist or sympathetic."

In 2010, Theroux received a Royal Television Society

Royal Television Society

The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...

's award in the best presenter category for the documentary. The UK band Coalingas's Children famously took their name from this tv show.