Out of all the sentencing conventions in the US, I think the typical 5-10 years for pedophilia is the most obviously wrong. There's nothing to be gained from releasing pedos from jail, but everything to lose. The recidivism rate is so high that we need a special class of felon (the sexual offender registry) to try to provide at least some protection to children from further predation. In that light, is a life sentence cruel and unusual punishment as a consequence for child molestation? I don't think so.
The most enraging thing about child serial killers is that almost every one of them has a rap sheet for CSA and rape, but were set free by the legal system, sometimes multiple times, until their cravings got strong enough to kill their victims. The worst case I ever read was a guy that skipped bail for a pedo charge, then went on to kill an entire family, kidnap the youngest kids, and kill one of them before his last victim was rescued.
I don't know who decided that pedophiles should have the privilege of leaving prison, but let's say it wouldn't be surprising if there were a lot of conflicting interests involved.
That was part of my intention behind "If it doesn't warrant a death sentence it doesn't warrant a life sentence". Locking someone up for life because you're somewhat worried the evidence you have isn't accurate is a shitty system.
Plus as it stands with the death sentence currently, it's generally not carried out until all avenues of appeal have been exhausted anyway, if that's not enough to correct the vast majority of injustices then that's a flaw in the appellate courts not the sentence.