Poor kid
Depending on his personality this may really affect his future. He may grow stronger and learn to stand up for himself, he may become paranoid and distrustful of authority, or he might shrink away, being fearful of any mistep. There is a remote possibility he may remain unchanged (especially if he has really strong and down to earth parents).
In the same way that you feel terrible when you walk past somebody in distress and don't help, there must be somebody involved feeling that way knowing they screwed up and deciding between 'do I speak up', or 'its done, don't think about it'.
The nature of being alive I guess