No it's just barely literate idiot thugs. They're not pronounced or spelt any more similarly than in AmE or anything. It's just 'oh paediatrician that's what paedo is short for innit'.
(there might be some overlap there, I haven't actually read more than necessary to check they're not cases of the paediatrician actually being a paedophile too, there is some of that unfortunately)
Some examples:
https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/a-tale-told-too-much-the-pae...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4719364.stm
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/vigilante...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1353904/Paediatricia...
(there might be some overlap there, I haven't actually read more than necessary to check they're not cases of the paediatrician actually being a paedophile too, there is some of that unfortunately)