Baron Harkonnen as Pedophile

One of the most disturbing characters in all the sci-fi genre is Baron Harkonnen, Paul Atreides's nemesis in Dune. Harkonnen is one of the first clear depictions of a pedophile in science fiction history, which alone makes him unusual. The character is quite well drawn, but nevertheless I find it disturbing how easily Herbert seems to conflate pedophilia with homosexuality, as the Baron's ambigous sexuality seems to stay rather on the homoerotic side. This is particularly noteable in the Dune miniseries, which unlike the Lord of the Rings movies, does not try to hide problematic elements of the original text (for which I give it credit). Yet you would think an intelligent sci-fi author could have gotten beyond that canard, even by as early a date as 1964. Just goes to show you that a genre that promotes human rights has not always done so consistently.