'Unacceptable': Junior minister adds voice to backlash over sex offender podcast

Equality parliamentary secretary Rebecca Buttigieg described a podcast interview with convicted sex offender Justin Haber as “unacceptable”.

“The blatant attempt to try and trivialise sexual harassment on a minor and spin it as a ‘normal’ interaction between a boss and his minor employee is unacceptable,” Buttigieg said when asked for her reaction to an episode of the Ricky Caruana Podcast featuring Haber.

The podcast aired earlier this week, a few days after an appeal court confirmed a judgment in which Haber, 44, was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for four years, and fined €7,000 for sexually harassing a 14-year-old employee at his Marsaxlokk restaurant between 2020 and 2022.

In the podcast, Haber, a former national team goalkeeper, insisted on his innocence and questioned the credibility of the victim.

The podcaster came under fire from several organisations representing the rights of women and victims of crime, who accused Caruana of giving Haber a platform to launder his reputation.

When contacted, Caruana said he had made it clear at the beginning of the episode that the interview did not seek to defend or discredit anyone, but merely to offer a space for a person to have his say, something he said he believed in. He added that he would be happy to debate his critics on a public platform.

Commenting on the podcast, Buttigieg said sexual harassment is a serious issue and that any attempt to normalise it should never be accepted. She said ongoing educational campaigns, such as those run by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE), aim to raise awareness about these issues and will continue.

In a statement on Tuesday the NCPE also expressed “serious concern” over granting a person convicted of sexually harassing a minor, who was also his employee, space to freely “justify” his actions.

“Allowing the perpetrator media space to excuse his actions and vilify the victim is highly reprehensible, as it further increases the perpetrator’s power, places the victim in an even more vulnerable position, and results in her re-victimisation. Moreover, such actions have a negative social impact, as they discourage other victims from reporting their cases and contribute to the normalisation of abuse,” the NCPE said.

A call to remove Caruana from state-owned television

The NCPE also recalled that Caruana had previously engaged in misogynistic behaviour. They were referring to the issue that emerged in October after Caruana blasted feminists in a video on his Facebook page, suggesting, among others, that workplaces function better if gender-segregated and implying that women should stay at home to care for children.

This came just before his television programme – Ricky Debates – started being aired during prime time on the national television station TVM. Back then women’s organisations lambasted PBS' decision to allocate airtime to the podcaster saying that he persisted in publishing "mediaeval, and blatantly misogynistic opinions on social media platforms".

In Tuesday's statement, the NCPE reiterated its call to the relevant authorities to ensure that individuals in public roles uphold standards of correctness and refrain from causing social harm.

"Individuals who occupy official public positions, particularly within the broadcasting sector, carry an enhanced responsibility due to their influence on public attitudes and perceptions. Where such individuals fail to uphold these standards, they should no longer occupy public roles nor receive public funding," the NCPE said.

Earlier this week, the Lisa Maria Foundation said it was “very disturbing” that, at a time when so much has been said about child abuse, a convicted child sex offender was given a platform outside the formal justice system to present a one-sided interpretation of events.

The Malta Women’s Lobby said it was society’s responsibility to focus on victims and survivors, not to attempt to repair the public image of perpetrators. Victim Support Malta expressed its “deep concern” about narratives that cast doubt on victims of sexual abuse.

The Infrastructure Malta logo is seen on screen as one of the sponsors of the podcast episode.

Following the airing of the podcast, Caruana was not the only one to face criticism. Infrastructure Malta, the state agency responsible for the development, maintenance and upgrading of roads, was also criticised for sponsoring the podcast, with its logo appearing on screen as one of the sponsors.

Times of Malta contacted the agency to ask whether it was aware of the podcast’s subject and whether it planned to continue its sponsorship, but no reply had been received by the time of writing.