Omissions, whataboutism, and reputation laundering of a registered sex offender

Podcaster Ricky Caruana has denied reputation laundering after coming under fire over inviting a convicted sex offender on his podcast in a blatant attempt at reputation laundering.

The hour-long podcast released on Thursday evening, featured former national goalkeeper Justin Haber, who was convicted of sexually harassing a minor he employed at his Marsaxlokk restaurant. In September 2025, Haber was found guilty by the Criminal Court and handed down a two-year prison sentence suspended for four years and a €7,000 fine. The court also imposed a three-year restraining order on Haber and ordered that his name be listed in the sex offenders' register.

The court's judgment was confirmed earlier this week, by the Criminal Appeals Court. Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera dismissed Haber’s appeal, stressing the aggravating nature of the power imbalance between the victim and the accused. The Appeals Court noted that Haber was a mature man in his forties at the time of the offences, while the victim was a teenage employee dependent on the job.

Despite the court's unequivocal ruling, Haber went on Caruana's podcast to appeal his case in the court of public opinion. The podcast started with Caruana stating that he has no interest in discrediting the court, or to give his opinion on the case, explaining that Haber was only invited to explain himself. What resulted was something different.

READ ALSO | Malta Women's Lobby condemns reputation laundering of convicted sex offenders

With a thick folder full of case documents in front of him, Haber claimed that the case against him was a frame-up initiated by his ex-girlfriend who conspired with the young victim. 

While clarifying that he is barred from mentioning the names of witnesses and the victim, their names were visible as Haber flipped through the massive folder in clear view of the camera.

Haber spent a sizeable chunk of airtime explaining away certain aspects of the case, including one instance where he asked the employee, who was a minor, whether she was a virgin. The restaurant owner claimed that he had asked her because she was crying, and told him that she had sex for the first time in a club the night before.

Joined by his podcast host, Haber went on a tangent about how the girl shouldn’t have been present at the club in the first place, with Caruana making light of the situation and jokingly telling Haber not to ask him how he lost his virginity.

The pair didn’t shy away from going on tangents during the podcast, with Haber moaning that his name was published in the media despite a court order, and that cocaine dealers aren’t treated the same way. There was no court order banning Haber's name from being published

During the interview, Haber repeatedly claimed that he was never accused of molesting the young victim. The actual court charges for which he was found guilty included: "Subjecting another person... a vulnerable minor under the age of 15, to an act or behaviour of a sexual connotation, including words and deeds... that could reasonably be considered as offensive, humiliating, degrading and intimidatory towards her."

Indeed, two particular actions perpetrated by Haber that the court gave weight to were his tendency to repeatedly slap the girl's buttocks when they were alone, and the fact that he once kissed her on her lips. These were were completely omitted from the podcast and Haber's host never challenged him on them.

Attempting to shed doubt on his conviction, Justin Haber claimed the magistrate that decided his case knew there was something fishy about the story, implying that the judgment changed when it emerged that he had been found guilty of threatening to behead his sister last year.

Haber said he could not speak about the case involving his sister but proceeded nonetheless to do so.

'Scary times for men'

At one point in the podcast, the ex-footballer took issue with the “scary” fact that, according to him, “you cannot see a woman and say, ‘You’re so beautiful’,” as it would lead to court cases.

This appeared to have struck a chord with Caruana, who fully agreed with Haber before adding: “Then they [women] complain because you don’t compliment them.”

A few minutes before that, Haber was saying that anyone who knows him knows that he isn’t capable of sexually harassing a minor, saying, “Do you think, with all due respect, that I need a 14- or 15-year-old girl?”

Caruana interjected by saying that young girls nowadays appear older than they actually are, with Haber agreeing.

“They’re going to hate me for saying this but, it’s true that they’re 14 or 16 years old, but as a human being, their bodies are already formed. If you want to be honest, if you see a 15- or 16-year-old, you would still say that she is an attractive girl, you’re only human,” Caruana ranted.

Later on in the podcast, Haber mentioned a female group that “wrote an article on me without hearing my side”. Here too Caruana seemed on the same page, as he tore at criticism levelled on him by the Malta Women’s Lobby for what they called a record of social media posts that ridicule women and trivialise sexual harassment.

Here, the podcaster appealed for dialogue and the establishment of an “NGO for men.”

Caruana's replies

MaltaToday contacted Ricky Caruana for comment on the podcast episode, as he denied being a reputation launderer because he never said that Haber was innocent or guilty, adding he was simply giving his side of the story.

Caruana seemed to imply that he had no place to challenge his guest on various claims, but denied letting Haber speak. Caruana said that everything Haber spoke about was on the court record. 

The podcaster was questioned on the fact that when Haber said he was never convicted of touching the girl, Caruana never challenged him. "He didn't molest her, there was no evidence that he touched her."

When the witness testimony confirming Haber touched the girl on her buttocks before asking for a hug was read out to Caruana, he asked the journalist, "Have you ever hugged someone who is 16 years old?" Caruana refused to acknowledge the fact that Haber touched the girl's buttocks, insisting that Haber gave his explanation on the hug in question. 

The podcaster then started to question the reliability of the victim's testimony and accused this newspaper of nitpicking.

Ricky Caruana did not say whether he researched the case prior to the podcast. When asked whether Haber paid to be on the podcast, Caruana denied this, and asked the journalist not to go on about nonsense (ċuċati).

On the fact that the victim's and witnesses names were visible to the public, Caruana asked, "What can I do if they were written on the file?"

He insisted that the issue at hand did not constitute abuse, defending Haber by repeating, "He didn't touch her," and "He didn't rape her."

Caruana seemed offended when asked what he meant when he said that one can find a 15 or 16-year-old beautiful. "I think you're stupid for asking me this question," he told MaltaToday, insisting that what he said wasn't newsworthy. 

"Is it a sin to see a young 16-year-old man and call him beautiful?" Caruana insisted that his comments should be taken within the right context. "If you're outside and some boy or girl, 15, or 16-year-olds, and they're cute, what's wrong with seeing them as cute? Is this a sin in 2026?"