It’s interesting to contrast some of the sentiments in this thread with others in this one: Is it silly to reach out after 40 years, out of the blue, to send an apology? - #113 by Mallard
While a lot of the “nah, don’t apologize” posts focused on the fact that the transgression in question occurred 40 years ago, there was a little sideline discussion about the appropriateness of contacting someone you’d wronged at any time to apologize, because doing so might cause your victim more pain. There was a link in there to another thread in which people who had been contacted by 12-steppers making amends spoke about their experiences, and mostly did not care for it.
Like many here, I’m not necessarily convinced this kid is genuinely sorry. But I do wonder what, hypothetically, a genuinely sorry person in his position should do.