They went with it because religion. Dumb bullshit religion.
According to another youth pastor at the church, this was a religious community that held very conservative, very puritanical, very misogynistic beliefs about the subject. The church believed “if a man lusted for a woman, it was the woman’s fault.” Even if the girl knew something was wrong, she likely believed she couldn’t tell church leaders what was happening because they would have blamed her.
The pastor of the church back then, Fred Hoover, had misgivings about the relationship when he first learned about it. But according to Hoover’s son, the families persuaded him to support the plan by citing the marriage of Joseph and Mary in the Bible. Mary was much, much younger than Joseph and “how could they be against God’s will”? It was Hoover who blessed the relationship… but only after both families agreed there would be no dating or kissing before the girl became a legal adult. (By this point, however, he had allegedly assaulted her many times over.)
No one should allow religion and it’s dumbass bullshit made up stories to have that much of a sway over your life. Especially if you’re a fucking pastor.