Syag, while it obviously would have been best to cast him out as soon as he started engaging in sinful behavior, things don’t work that way even in the non jewish world. When someone is in a position of power, it can take a long time to bring things to light. Also, I hear your point that people shouldn’t be defending him, but at the same time, wlif chas veshalom the belzer/gerrer/satmar/ any other rebbe turned bad, would everyone automatically drop them? If they clung to their rebbe, would they be cultists? To bring the point a little more down to earth, when someone’s family member is accused of abuse, are we to fault them for wanting to protect their father/brother/mother? The same way that’s not cultist, but rather nornal human frailty, i believe barland’s followers are defending their rebbe because they love him, as they would a family member. It’s wrong, and can cause harm to the victims, but i wouldn’t call it cultish.
My point about his background is not to praise him or talk about his maalos; far from the case, being a qualified rov only makes sinful behavior worse, not better. My point is that people who follow(ed?) him are no different than those who follow any other established rov.