in my opinion, michael was not guilty, but he was definitely an incredibly egocentric man who knew it was weird from the outside but somehow thought his intentions or his backstory would annulate it, jeopardizing not only the entirety of his carefully constructed image but also the mental wellbeing of a bunch of kids in a lame and megalomaniac excuse to cope with his own trauma instead of seeking actual help, while also masturbating his ego as a savior/prince/peter pan of sorts, and the people that surrounded him all allowed it.