Megyn Kelly wants us to know she’s technically correct. And she is. Jeffrey Epstein, in the clinical sense, was not a pedophile. Pedophilia, for those keeping score with the DSM-5, denotes a psychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving prepubescent children—generally age 13 or younger. The clinical community has additional terms for those attracted to adolescents: hebephilia for attraction to pubescent children (roughly ages 11-14), and ephebophilia for attraction to mid-to-late adolescents (ages 15-19).
The girls Epstein trafficked had reached sexual maturity. Teenagers. Not toddlers. So yes, if we’re playing definitional Jenga, Kelly’s got her blocks in order.
One can almost hear the self-satisfied click of her rhetorical trap snapping shut.
But here’s what our erstwhile NBC darling-turned-podcast provocateur fails to grasp in her rush to épater les liberals: No one cares about the semantic distinction. This isn’t a…
