In a Facebook post defending himself, Yiannopoulos insisted that he doesn’t support pedophilia and views it as “a vile and disgusting crime, perhaps the very worst.” He denounces the videos as “selectively edited,” even though The Reagan Battalion posted unedited clips. Milo also characterized his statements about “boys” as “sloppy phrasing.”

In addition, Yiannopoulos claimed that he outed three pedophiles during his career. He said he repeatedly denounced pedophilia in the past, but stood by his statement that “there are relationships between younger men and older men that can help a young gay man escape from a lack of support or understanding at home.”

“I was not talking about anything illegal and I was not referring to pre-pubescent boys,”Yiannopoulos wrote. He argued that his comment about learning how to give good blowjobs from a priest was an “edgy way” of coping with a sex crime perpetrated against him as a teenager, comparing it to the “gallows humor” displayed by individuals who have AIDS.

Yiannopoulos’ terminology is technically correct — someone who is sexually attracted to pubescent children (11 to 14) is a hebephile. Someone who is attracted to adolescents is an ephebophile. Nevertheless, it is still illegal in most parts of the Western world for an adult to have sex with a minor, a practice that Yiannopoulos was accused of defending in the clips.