Is it normal i don't think that sexually-based offenses are "especially heinous?"

I'm not saying that sexually-based offenses aren't bad or that the people who commit them don't need to be prevented from subjecting future would-be victims to them, but I can think of numerous crimes more heinous than those of a sexually-based nature. People have tons of hangups about sex in general, and I think that part of the reason why people have so many issues with sexually-based offenses or any kind of deviancy has more to do with the "ick" factor associated with it; people are more willing to sympathize with a murderer or a hitman than they are to sympathize with a rapist, I mean. Really, neither of these people are deserving of sympathy, I just think it's weird that people are so much more willing to get hung-up over a sexually-based offense than, say, someone who has committed war crimes.