I think that in most cases, they are viewed as predators.

In California, any therapist who becomes aware that his or her client who is a minor is having sexual relations with someone who is older than the client (and I think, but I don't have exact details, that there's a number of years specified so as to create a bright line presumption that the older person wields significant power -- so like "ten years older" or "fifteen years older" or something), has a legal obligation to report the situation to the police.

An acquaintance (friend of a friend) a few years ago was wrestling with this question: She was a therapist, her client was a 16-year-old girl who was living with her lesbian lover who was 28 or 29. The client, the 16-year-old, had come from an incredibly abusive family relationship, and the woman who was her lover was not only giving her emotional support, but was also physically supporting her (shelter, food, clothing) while she finished high school.

The therapist was obligated by law to report the situation. If she did not, she risked having her license revoked by the state. Yet if she were to do so, her client would be returned to her parents, who were clearly not operating in the girl's best interests.

That's the problem with bright line tests.

Peace.