"In other nations, the story about Ms. Kelsey wouldn't have received any attention from the press or the media or the digital public at large."

I disagree with this part. Many countries, including many European and English speaking countries, are more age gap negative now than compared to the past. Similar stories in countries like the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand would get media attention, especially in the UK (The DailyMail, a British news tabloid, has shown a number of stories over the years involving female teachers caught with underaged male students from the UK, US, etc). A story like Kelsey's would also get media attention in countries like Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Spain. Media in many countries use female teachers with underaged male students for the main reason because it gets clicks, views and engagement. Half the social media comments will call the boy lucky and praise the female teacher, the other half will shame the female teacher and call her a predator/pedo. I've seen similar in Spanish speaking countries too. The media prop up a female teacher caught with a male student, and, as usual, half the social media comments call the boy lucky and praise the female teacher, the other half shame the female teacher.

To show how much things have changed, and how more puritan countries are, even European ones - see this story from Italy back in 2020: A LAMBORGHINI ad campaign featuring teenage girls posing in front of supercars in crop tops in Italy has sparked a furious backlash: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13274572/lamborghini-teen-girls-posing-ad-campaign/

These types of stories have also occurred in the UK, Spain, Australia, etc. Whether it's banning ads for showing young teen girls modelling, or banning "flat chested" women in media, or whatever.