pedophilia

noun

1. (US, countable, uncountable)Sexual attraction by adults and adolescents to children, specifically prepubescent children.

   “As noted earlier, pedophilia was cited as both an aggravating and a mitigating circumstance by trial judges, as was the absence of pedophilia.”

   “Sometimes a man with pedophilia is content to stroke the child's hair, but he may also manipulate the child's genitalia, [...]”

2. (US, broadly, countable, proscribed, uncountable)Sexual activity between adults and children; the act of child molestation.

   “Fifteen months later, a committee of the congregation found that he had sexually abused several boys within the congregation. […] The fact that Alger committed pedophilia at the age of thirty-four casts a shadow over his subsequent yearning for relationships with boys and young men, but there is no evidence of any later misconduct.”

   “Entire books have been written about the role of scandal in US politics (Garment, 1992). Offenses include smoking marijuana, hiring illegal aliens, plagiarizing, sexually harassing others, engaging in pedophilia, […]”

   “It's quite another (a bad idea) to expect amateurs to figure out who is telling the truth about Iraq, or which priests have committed pedophilia.”

   “Although the Holy See publicly expressed its rejection of sexual abuse and pedophilia and expressed its commitment to cooperate with civil authorities when cases of pedophile priests were found¹², there are no known cases of bishops or cardinals, being found responsible for abusing children or covering up for pedophilia in their parishes.”