Did he ever go through the process of being investigated ... charged ... prosecuted and subsequently convicted?
A little matter of Premature Existence Curtailment (PEC) saw to that.
I cant' believe the resounding support he's receiving. I'm not going to start poking around the internet to 'provide cites' or 'prove my point', as the detail, volume, longevity and variety of modes of enabled abuse is sickening. Suffice to say, just about every man and his cat who were able to 'apologise' retrospectively, have, including the Government. That's good enough for me, irrespective of your cherished 'rule of law'; he was apparently above the law for so long, enabled by a retinue of sycophantic miscreants.
Clement Freud's PEC also got in the way of him being processed by law - and it's usually the way, with victims of high status / protected figures speaking out when it's safe.
If this is some ham-fisted attempt to somehow explain away the actions or judgement of the McCann's post the event, it's extremely misguided. In My Opinion.