I was infracted once, it was great. I had several philosophical communications regarding the nature of langauge, and the psychological toll giving infractions must have on the mods. I'm afraid most of the talking was me, with only a few words in reply each time, but I could feel we were connecting on a deeper level than he was letting on. Some people are uncomfortable with real communication, and use excuses to interact with people one on one.
Henry, perhaps your infraction was one of these moments, and Brad is reaching out to you in the hope to establish a diologue. By his own admission, your infraction is a one in a thousand thing, it seems wrong to let is go without at least attempting to see where it goes, despite his denials of it having any meaning. I suggest a few pleasant small talk PMs, before you ask him about his relationship with his parents, and the pet that died when he was a kid, you don't want to burst that dam of emotion all at once, release the pressure a bit at a time.