Pretty sure it’s a reference to a character in the first book of the Interview with a Vampire series. Lestat’s partner struggles with his remaining humanity, and can’t allow a little girl to die in some historical fire in New Orleans, so he turns her. This also gives them both fulfillment in terms of a child to raise, until the child becomes a willful young adult stuck in a prepubescent body.
Thankfully she’s nobody’s victim, she is a coldhearted little murder machine. On its face it doesn’t read like creepy pedo material, but it is awkward as hell. Probably intentionally so.
I think it’s absolutely intentional. It feels like it’s written by and targetted towards people who are viscerally repulsed by pedophilia.
It’s creating a situation that feels like absolute horror, and using that revulsion to help sell the horror. This centuries old mind, trapped in a child’s body, unable to properly experience things like sexually and romance, continually on the outside of everything, treated like a child despite her age and abilities…
If I remember correctly, she ends up being this extremely bitter murdering monstrosity, out of rage and spite over her existence. Despite her angelic, innocent face, she’s the most evil of the lot. Partly because she doesn’t even have the option of interacting with humans properly, and even most vampires treat her poorly.
And all because a character had a moment of moral panic, of pity for a poor child. A desire to do the right thing.
It’s awful. And it’s supposed to be.