It's true that social mores change over time. Within my lifetime it was perfectly permissable for a 40 year old man to marry a 13 or 14 year old. By nature, females are ready for procreation at age 12-13-14. Our society has imposed an artificial barrier against such early activity. It's come about because of wealth increase and because of the uncommon freedom we enjoy. We train our girls for other things besides child-bearing. The freedoms that Western Civilization offered to women has changed many things in culture. There are still many cultures in third world countries where girls still marry at puberty. It's natural, but we have created laws that say it's a no-no.
That being said, it's especially onerous for men (or women) to take advantage of position to prey on children. And doubly so when one is a pastor/priest. But we Christians know that satan works overtime within the Church. He's already got those outside the Church.
"Within my lifetime it was perfectly permissable for a 40 year old man to marry a 13 or 14 year old."
You're correct, of course. It is only in very recent years that the age of consent in a number of states was raised above 14. It's pretty uniform now at 16 or 17, which makes a lot of sense.
Still, however, for someone in a position of authority or trust to take sexual advantage of any young person is a terrible wrong. The medical profession simply prohibits it at any age, as do most universities, finally.
This story was about a pastor. There are stories every day of people abusing their position to take sexual advantage of other people. It's not limited just to ministers and priests, by any means.