It would be interesting if the church simply had a hands off policy for child molesters -- in other words, the police are called, the priest is suspended, if found guilty he is summarily excommunicated and expelled from the priesthood. No second chances, no sinecures in monasteries. If he wishes to apply to an order after prison and the want to take him in, fine. But why should he be treated different from anybody else?
It stands to reason that a sexual criminal cannot be a Catholic priest. The line of inquiry and suggestion in the relevant circles has been that in the past church policy was misguided and damaged by 1) taking advice from psychobabblers, 2) interpreting the offenses a little too pastorally as mere moral failures or lapses (sins) to be resolved by prayer and reflection (like any other sexual sin for any other penitent), 3) a traditional stereotyped notion of "secrecy" to avoid "scandal" and public controversy, and 4) the infiltration of the church by hostile non-Catholic individuals or organizations connected with deviant sexuality.
What has emerged from further investigations of the matter are the following: Pedophilia and ephebophilia involving aggressive sexual assaults are disorders that cannot be "cured." The church hierarchy failed in allowing the development of a homosexual counter-culture among the clergy which included misguided psychobabble tolerance of sexual misconduct. There is also a need to look at tightening standards for candidates admitted to seminaries and approved for ordination. There, with all the relevant and ideological controversies, it hangs in the balance.