Consider for a moment "Amercian Psycho".
In my eyes it is the perfect example of neo-litterature providing a view of such attrocities (rape, murder, rape-murder, murder-rape etc) from the protagonists POV.
Is it still legal over there?
I mention it to cover a few points here. Firstly: It provides a character who performs acts of depravity that would eclipse most stories here, and while doing so Ellis puts us in his mind and manages to draw us onto his side. This is not an easy thing to do considering the depths which he goes to brutalise his victims.
Also, despite the sexual nature of his attrocities, it is not a sexually charged novel, it is simply a thriller/horror (To some with a finer appreciation; a deeply disturbed black-comedy). Which for my 2cents is what I write, I have been quite obviously inspired by Ellis's style, one day I might actually be able to provide a story line to go with my scenes.
As for "rape isn't murder" of course it isn't. But they are the same sides of different' die. On one hand you have sexual abuse which starts with wolf whistles and peaks at rape. On the other hand we have violence which starts with name calling and ends with murder. Both are crimes at the top of theire respective food chains and both are a total destruction of the victims liberties.
To write about either subject is much the same. To provide a protagonist/s that the reader empathises with, despite their personal feelings, is a skill that should be appreciated not punished. To provide children as the victims is more a sign of the times than anything else... there is no end to the fiction on paper and on TV that provide acts of sexual violence against adults; so much so that it has lost its edge, it has become blase, so we must push it further to achive the gut wrenching horror that American Psycho gave in spades.
To make a point, Americal Psycho comes wrapped in plastic with a big ol' R printed on it (over here it does anyway). Why can't every story with graffic sexual violence get the same treatment? Who (other than christians) wakes up and decides it is their civic duty to force their own beliefs on someone else; this truly a perversion of personal liberties.