Zero Consequences

I remember complaints that Clark never faced any repercussions for his crime spree in Metropolis. Recently I've wondered if this could part of a long term plan on the part of TPTB. Lex is quite likely to connect the events of that summer to the future Superman. If TBTB are going with the idea of Lex-as-Segit-who-thinks-he's-the-hero, then Lex's belief would be supported by the knowledge that Superman had acted criminally and gotten away with it. If they allow Lex to be suspicious that Clark is Superman, then he also has all the times Clark acted badly (Red and Rush), as well as the certainty that Clark is a liar, to add to his picture of a dangerous Superman. ( Cut for S4 spoiler )

The knowledge that the famous proponent of "Truth, Justice ... and other stuff" was a lying criminal would destroy any positive influence Clark or Superman could have on him. Instead it would reinforce his belief that he is acting heroically and that it's ok to break the rules.

Thoughts?

ETA: Spoiler free folks, if you're still reading, is that enough spoiler protection or is the implication of a spoiler relevent to this topic enough of a spoiler itself? Should I have cut-tagged the whole entry?