Journalist Antoinette Lattouf has revealed why she reported a man who allegedly sent her a ‘harassing, racially charged’ email following his arrest this week.
NSW Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that a 61-year-old man was taken into custody following a raid at a property in Lake Cathie, south of Port Macquarie, just before 7am on Tuesday.
Counter Terrorism police had launched an investigation following a complaint from Ms Lattouf that she was allegedly harassed late last year.
‘I (allegedly) got a harassing, racially charged email from a man I’d never met… I was about to just block and delete – like I had so many times before. But that day, I was done,’ Ms Lattouf said.
The media personality said the message allegedly called for ‘violence and harm’ and that, despite not being one of the worst she’s been sent, she decided she ‘shouldn’t have to cop this’ and reported it to police.
She added that when police had identified the suspect and wanted to arrest him, she had to make a formal statement but hesitated.
‘Should I go through with this…? Was I worthy of police resources? Women are conditioned to endure hate and harassment… Maybe he’d had a few beers. Maybe he was having a bad day,’ she said.
‘Then the Sergeant said something disturbing he’d observed in his career: generally speaking, men who are violent to women in person almost always start online.
Journalist Antoinette Lattouf (pictured) has revealed police have made an arrest following a man allegedly sending her offensive messages
Ms Lattouf said that comment cemented her resolve to go through with the police report.
‘Turns out he was also (allegedly) targeting others like me online and he’ll front court next month,’ she said.
‘The alleged offence? Using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence. Maximum penalty: three years in prison.’
The broadcaster encouraged other woman who have allegedly had similar experiences to report them to police.
‘You shouldn’t have to put up with it. We shouldn’t normalise it,’ she continued.
‘I know other many women have been turned away from authorities, let down or told to ”maybe just stay off socials” as though as victims, they are to blame’.
Ms Lattouf’s post received a flood of supportive comments.
‘Bravo to you. The spineless hate is dangerous and as a society we just brush it aside as though woman are taking offence,’ The Block judge Shaynna Blaze said.
Ms Lattouf (pictured arriving to court earlier this month) said she had almost hesitated in making the complaint but said she ‘shouldn’t have to cop this’
‘Good on you for doing it and letting others know. Too often we let s*** like this slide,’ Amanda Rose, founder of Small Business Women Australia, said.
Olympian Giaan Rooney said there were ‘so many faceless bullies out there’ and praised Ms Lattouf for taking a stand.
NSW Police confirmed the man has been charged with use carriage service to menace/harass/offend and was granted conditional bail to front Port Macquarie Local Court on March 5.
It comes amid Ms Lattouf’s legal battle with the ABC in the Federal Court over her allegation of unlawful termination.
The ABC dropped her from her fill-in radio show host role after a furious row blew up about her pro-Palestinian stance on social media over the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Lattouf has been challenged over her legal claims that her employment was terminated based on her political opinions and her race, and that this breached the ABC’s enterprise agreement.
Closing submissions are expected to be heard on February 27.
