Look, my position on pedophiles is not remotely nuanced:
Hang them. Publicly. Leave their bodies as a warning to others who would similarly transgress.
No mercy for kidfuckers.
We can spend all day waffling about whether it should be 18 or 17 or 45, but this shit is not complicated. In the US, you are considered an adult at 18. You can vote, be drafted, and drive. This is a logical place to also place age of consent.
People who want it lowered do so because they have some kind of vested interest in having it lowered. We have Romeo and Juliet laws for the few fringe cases that may be more complicated, but in the end this is some straightforward shit that we're pretending is more complicated than it actually is.
I don't particularly give a shit if you were "born this way" or "have never offended". Many serial killers were "born that way" due to problems in their brain chemistry. Meth heads often have a family history of addiction, and a tendency towards addictive behavior.
Lot of people are born shitty. It does not mean we should have to hand wave their shit and just put up with fucking predators.
The risk someone like that poses to a child supersedes their personal problems.