The conviction was about a year after the crimes, which is a lot faster than I would expect than in my country. 5.5 years does seem light to me, too.
The rhetoric is still somewhat apologetic to the perpetrators. Like “it’s difficult for students to resist due to a sense of closeness to their teachers” doesn’t say anything about rank, authority, and power that teachers have over students. And “checking whether a teacher is under excessive pressure” seems to redirect fault away from the perpetrator.
I think homelessness and despair cause mental illness and substance abuse. If we can prevent “normal” people from losing their homes, I think they would be more stable and able to take care of themselves long term.
Allowing homelessness is far more costly to everyone else than preventing it.