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Popular TikTok user Zoe Laverne, 19, has apologized for kissing a 13-year-old boy named Connor. She insists she is not part of the left’s campaign to normalize pedophilia on social media.

Fans grew concerned about the nature of close Zoe’s relationship with Connor – also a TikTok personality – after she split from her ex, Cody Orlove.

Cody later insisted he left Zoe “because of her interactions with Connor,” which, “got very intense and it’s something I do not stand by what so ever. It’s pedophilia.”

Days later, a video of Zoe and Connor kissing surfaced online, prompting Zoe to release a video apology in which she says she, “didn’t groom Connor, I wouldn’t do that”.

“He’s a kid and I’m aware of that. It just happened,” says Zoe. “We both were in a dark place when we first became friends and we both just ended up catching feelings for each other. And friends do that, they catch feelings for each other. That’s not a bad thing.

According to London’s DailyMail.com, Connor, who uses the TikTok handle @cxnnorjoyce, addressed the controversy in his own posts to social media, insisting Zoe “did not rape” him.