I feel like a pretty big reason why people give the white haired mc the benefit of the doubt over his actions and sympathize, ..isn't because of his unfortunate history. rather it's because he is quite good looking. if he was some fat, unshaven, greasy middle aged man sporting some pervert spectacles and creeper stache doing all this to a young girl, we wouldn't see his actions as anything but repugnant, it would be quite the disillusionment. people are shallow creatures and we're choosy over who we give our empathy too, and it turns out appearance plays a big role in garnering pity from people.
I feel like a pretty big reason why people give the white haired mc the benefit of the doubt over his actions and sympathize, ..isn't because of his unfortunate history. rather it's because he is quite good looking. if he was some fat, unshaven, greasy middle aged man sporting some pervert spectacles and creeper stache doing all this to a young girl, we wouldn't see his actions as anything but repugnant, it would be quite the disillusionment. people are shallow creatures and we're choosy over who we give our empathy too, and it turns out appearance plays a big role in garnering pity from people.