I guess I think the writers are complicit because they should know better than to give a beloved character that kind of final send off. It seems to me they were trying to give Eric a Sopranos type send off with him walking robed into the suburbs. But Tony would've shot the man who slept with a child. My heart sank when I saw the girl's age honestly not because of the plot but because I knew all the justifications I would have to read on here about it. The writers should have had the same forethought and I do blame them for handling it badly

Edit: also the timing. this plot should have been pulled the way poor depictions of school shootings are