Not sure about that. Emotional intelligence, levels of implicit trust, & general emotional stability are not the same for everyone.
Not everyone recognizes what's going on in fact, in other people, let alone themselves, with 100% accuracy - or has a solid base of skeptical critical judgment that will make them deny what seems damning evidence, on trust alone.
And not all have the gift of zero neediness when close. Or for that matter, that of maximum openness & transparency when alienated. "Look daddy/non-daddy, you're guilty as hell of exploiting my dying mom, aren't you?" (Some would go into a shocked shell, I think.)
Plus, you didn't seem to take on board the other points I raised.
And then, the permanent dramatic suspense, to have that sword of Damocles of criminal and - worse - morally repellent activity hanging over the MC's head, means some prising-away of trust is perhaps necessary for plot? If so, we can set demands of skyscraping, three-level concrete-foundation plausibility above anything previously required in the history of drama ... but who was it said about a "willing suspension of disbelief"? If you're not willing, that's okay. But errrr, have a heart, or something?
As you mentioned, this is not ultra-realism, or reality. I don't personally see grounds for a heavy sentence, for the MC ... or his creators.