A man has been charged for allegedly harassing Antoinette Lattouf after the ABC cut short the journalist’s five-day Sydney radio hosting assignment.
New South Wales police confirmed a 61-year-old man was arrested in Lake Cathie, south of Port Macquarie, on Tuesday after a search warrant was executed at his home just before 7am. He was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
Lattouf sued the ABC for unlawful termination, with evidence heard in a seven-day hearing that ended last week. Final submissions will be heard at the end of February before the judge retires to consider his verdict.
The freelance journalist was hired in December 2023 as a fill-in host for one week on the ABC’s Sydney Mornings radio program. Lattouf was taken off air three days into a five-day contract after she posted on social media about the Israel-Gaza war.
On Tuesday, after the man had been arrested, Lattouf posted on Instagram details of why she decided to report him for his alleged message.
“I was about to just block and delete - but that day, I was done,” she said.
“… I was exhausted. Frustrated … So I reported it.”
“Months later, NSW Police’s hate crimes unit called.”
Lattouf encouraged people facing problems online to report it: “I know many other women have been turned away from authorities, let down or told to ‘maybe just stay off socials’.
“My experience was different, and I hope others are afforded a similar path.”
Police said the search warrant was executed on the man’s home after an investigation by the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command’s Security Investigations Unit.
The man was granted conditional bail and will appear before Port Macquarie Local Court on 5 March.
