pedophilia

noun

pe·do·phil·ia | \ ˌpe-də-ˈfi-lē-ə

Definition of pedophilia

: sexual perversion in which children are the preferred sexual object specifically : a psychiatric disorder in which an adult has sexual fantasies about or engages in sexual acts with a prepubescent child

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Examples of pedophilia in a Sentence

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Perrault, a one-time pastor at St. Bernadette parish in Albuquerque, is one of many priests sent to New Mexico in the 1960s from around the country for treatment involving pedophilia. — Fox News, "Priest who fled America blamed sex abuse on cancer he didn't have, officials say," 26 Sep. 2018 Gunn’s tweets, many of which were about molestation or pedophilia, were indefensible. — Megan Farokhmanesh, The Verge, "The year of deleted tweets," 27 Dec. 2018 Nathan Larson, a man who advocates pedophilia, white supremacy and rape is running for Congress. — William Cummings, USA TODAY, "Nathan Larson is a pedophile and a white supremacist. And he's running for Congress," 1 June 2018 He was also disowned by parts of the conservative movement after video clips showed him making statements apparently supportive of pedophilia. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "Milo Yiannopoulos lasted a single day on Patreon before getting banned," 5 Dec. 2018 Perrault, a one-time pastor at St. Bernadette parish in Albuquerque, is one of many priests sent to New Mexico in the 1960s from around the country for treatment involving pedophilia. — Fox News, "Priest who fled America blamed sex abuse on cancer he didn't have, officials say," 26 Sep. 2018 Perrault, a one-time pastor at St. Bernadette parish in Albuquerque, is one of many priests sent to New Mexico in the 1960s from around the country for treatment involving pedophilia. — Russell Contreras, The Seattle Times, "Priest accused of child sex abuse behind bars pending trial," 25 Sep. 2018 According to a police report, on June 29 a cybertip came in to the task force that a social media user had been in chat rooms discussing pedophilia. — Madeleine Marr, miamiherald, "He entered a chat room saying he was raising nudist kids. He has no kids, cops say.," 6 July 2018 Trump mocked the #MeToo movement, endorsed a man accused of pedophilia, and supported a former staffer accused of domestic violence. — Danielle Campoamor, Teen Vogue, "The New York Times’ Anonymous Op-Ed Writer Isn’t Helping Anyone," 7 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pedophilia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.