I agree that while the professor seemed to be responding well in a lot of ways, his failure to quickly address the situation was terrible. He could have given

I agree that while the professor seemed to be responding well in a lot of ways, his failure to quickly address the situation was terrible. He could have given his lecture on academic honesty immediately after realizing the extent of the problem, even if he needed more time to create all the individualized reports. I have a hard time seeing how that wouldn't have improved the situation, perhaps in ways that he doesn't realize even now. (For example, how much student time was wasted on all this drama, which could have been much reduced by earlier action, with a consequent effect on their performance in other courses?)