1 You assume that, to him at 22, dating a 16 year old was "an affair of the heart" and some sort of true-ish love, rather than simply a ploy to get in her pants. I find it far more likely to have been perceived as "deep" and "caring" and "heart-felt" to her at 16, than to him at 22.
More important. Because of the disparity in age and potential maturity, the law doesn't allow the older to prey on the younger in making such decisions. Period.
2 The issue isn't what she felt or thought. It's about him and his actions. He lied to her about his age, so that she would let down her guard. He preyed on a much younger girl.
I don't question that perhaps SHE was sincerely swept up in a love affair (or so she thought), just like you were at 16. She may have even thought he was madly in love with her. But that doesn't alter who HE was (a 22 year old man preying on a much younger, impressionable teen) and what HE was doing (committing rape of a child who was too young to legally be considered wise enough to give sexual consent to a much older man).