One big difference is that adults have by and large demystified other adults for kids, all adults, all authority figures, not just priests. One of the saddest details to emerge from the sex abuse scandal was the spectre of horrified parents screaming at their kids that "Father Diddle never did that to you!" This is similar to the problem you put your finger on--thinking of certain individuals as having moral authority/impunity because theoretically, they do. Well, theoretically, they don't. There's no theory here, only people and directives from Jesus Christ which I suppose can be squished into a theory but why bother it's better in scripture. 

That is not to say all predation is easy to fix. It isn't. I always tell my kid, "Your default answer isn't yes. Your default answer is, 'I have to think about it.'"