>but it's not unlike an older gay person to 'get close
>to/assist' a younger gay person.

Huh? How do you know? I don't think 35-year-old and 18-year-old gay men spend much time together AT ALL; I wonder why you think differently.

>not knowing he was extended family, was i really that off
>thinking they could've been lovers?

I mean, I often hear about this happening with heterosexual couples (e.g., a woman's boyfriend secretly, or not so secretly, molesting her daughter). But because I read that the perpetrator is 18, and because I know to use google after reading an article that's low on details, I didn't once consider the scandalous "lover" narrative.