IDK, adults, especially not-super-self-aware adults, often have a very different idea as to how kids ought to feel about things vs how they actually feel...

Yeah, I would be shocked if Moltke was consciously aware of how bad and also how unjustified it was. To the extent that he was paying attention, he probably wrote it off as "disciplining a kid who needs discipline." Especially if young Christian's mental health issues were manifesting as erratic behavior already. :/