I agree with you on some points,Robert Thompson being one of them,there are lots of mitigating factors in the case of T and V,and whilst JV is quite obviously a paedophile,the homelife and horrors in Thompsons life and the chaos in both boys home lives played their part,and Thompson proved this by thriving away from this environment. I dont think either of these boys are the same as AC though. Also,they were children.
AC is not a child,not in any sense that counts,he knew what he was doing was wrong,he just didnt care.A 16 year old is legally allowed to smoke,marry,live independently, and make many "adult" decisions,and it really does irk me when people class them as children when it suits,such as when they kill,rape,torture etc.If you are old enough to decide to want to get married and have sex,you are old enough to decide not to kill and rape a little girl and old enough to understand the consequences for yourself if you do.
As for rehabilitation, of course we should all want that,no one wants to see a young life thrown away,all the potential gone and rehabilitation does amazing things again Robert Thompson is a prime example,but in some cases it is not possible,some people cant be changed.These cases are very rare,but they do happen and I believe AC is one of the rare cases that cant be rehabilitated purely because of what he is. If he hadn't been caught I think he would of carried on and like Bundy,Dahmer,JWG,Fred West,Ed Kemper etc wouldnt have stopped unless caught,this is just MOO based on his remarks as published in the appeal report.