Complex sentence: This so-called "scandal" happened when Whitman was 22 when he was publicly disgraced when he was accused of sodomy with a student, for which he was tarred, feathered and forced to leave town.
Split into simpler sentences: This so-called "scandal" happened when Whitman was 22. He was publicly disgraced when he was accused of sodomy with a student, for which he was tarred, feathered and forced to leave town.