FTR,

The problem is that they only listen to “the people” (i.e. the parents) when there’s a petition that will favor votes for these politicians. The same people who wanted the laws made are ignored when they eventually change their mind.

Everything you said here sounds like a damn good argument to present to a legislative meeting.
They ARE basing sex offenses on those who had obvious psychological issues which made them blatant rapists and murderers.

Yet lawmakers have persistently ignored the kidnapping and murder part, focusing only on the sexual abuse component. Yes, society is getting out its frustrations on child rapist-murderers by treating everyone with any crime with a sexual element as child rapist-murders. This might make some people feel better, but it does not make children or society any safer and in fact makes them less safe, because research has shown time and again that when low-risk sex offenders are treated like high-risk sexual predators, they are more likely to act that way.

Is the goal to make children safe and reduce sexual violence and abuse, or to simply heap on perpetual punishment for all offenders whose offenses involved a sexual component, regardless of whether the offense was violent or predatory? If lawmakers are attempting to achieve the former, then they are failing miserably. When was the last time the Legislature passed any law aimed at reducing (or even studying) the underlying causes of child sexual abuse? And how does treating me, who engaged in consensual sexual activity with a 17-year old when I was 25 (half my life ago, as I’m now 49), like a child rapist make anyone safer?