Firstly as someone mentioned, children are not innocent, I myself distinctly remember very early sensations of eros, at 5 or below.
Children are also prone to act on those feelings, they do have a sexual drive, this varies of course from one individual to another.
But the society we live in today do evidently have the deeply carved notion that this is wrong.
And to disregard that will cause conciderable damage to a child, wich will have to live with the constant knowledge and psychosocial friction that results.
As adults we are in the possition of responsibillity over minors, it doesn't matter if they want to have ice cream instead of food, playtime instead of school, sex instead of waiting until mature enough. The structure of the society we live in depends on it.
So inside the system it is wrong. outside it's variable.
Also
Johanthemonster666 said:
Pedophilia is supposedly more of a pscychological thing than a natural inclination (having power over your victims is something rapists and child predators have in common).
The vast majority of pedophiles, don't have this prefference as some power fetish. They focus on the pleassure of the child in question rather then themselves, deluding themselves of the consequenses the child will have to endure none the less. Wich in the eyes of the law is just as bad as rape.
Rapists who get turned on by the power, will often not discriminate between a child or an adult, infact when given the opportunity preffers the child, wich fits the profile of helpless.
There are of course all kinds of exceptions, but those do not give the accurate picture when they stand alone.
The law is sterile and dead.
If there is to be any order you have to think for yourselves.
The law does however shape the world we live in, and we ought to concider the existence of others before we chose to act unaccordingly.