Corapi: Why were warning signs ignored?

Have we really learned so little, over the past decade, about how we should respond to charges of priestly misconduct?

The fact that so many good Catholics are willing to cling loyally to the belief that Father John Corapi is innocent of all wrongdoing, despite so many clear warning signs, suggests that we still have not learned the necessary painful lessons. Consider:

Until today we did not even know what charges had been leveled against Father Corapi. SOLT, the apostolic society of which he is (or was) a member, had confirmed that he had been accused of misconduct. Other than that, every public statement about the accusations had come not from his accuser, nor from investigators, but from Corapi and his defenders. So one party to the dispute (the accuser) was following proper procedures, observing proper decorum, while the other (the accused) was seeking to try the charges in the court of public opinion. That in itself should have been enough to prompt suspicions that Father Corapi was unwilling to fight this battle on even ground.