“One of the things nobody points out is that during the time the worst cases occurred, in the 1970s and 1980s, child molesting was punished in the secular world with virtually nothing but a few years of therapy.”
Sentences served for homicides in the US averaged slightly more than 2 years in the late ‘90s.
The indulgence of criminals is not limited to the pedophiles. It is general and it is entrenched policy.
I will say that things began to change in the early 90’s - after many people had been killed by repeat offenders.