It’s not just misconduct claims. It’s the same reason why house parties have a tendency to go a bit too late and then suddenly empty out as soon as one person leaves. Or why at conferences you might wait an uncomfortable amount of time for someone to ask the first question, but after that there’s a queue.

In a nutshell, nobody wants to be the first.

(possibly obligatory disclaimer: I’m not saying this to minimize harassment and abuse claims. More the opposite: I worry that perceiving this phenomenon as something specific to harassment and abuse allegations can become a pretense for dismissing them out of hand.)

I assume the inverse is the same idea: most people don't want to take the last bite from a plate of snacks? Usually after it winds down for a while you get another wave of claims.