Clique Of MCAST Staff Committed Sexual Misconduct And Perpetuated ‘State Of Terror’ Among Students With Disabilities And Staff
An inquiry into MCAST has revealed a “clique” of staff members who committed sexual misconduct in front of staff and students with disabilities.
“[A clique of staff] unprofessional and unethical behaviour during weekend live-ins in a hotel, including through sexual misconduct and consumption of alcohol, especially in the vicinity, if not presence, of the most socially vulnerable students of the Pathway Programme.”
The clique was made up of four people, one of them being the coordinator of the programme.
The inquiry, which was written in 2019 but only published during a recent defamation case, kicked off after a former MCAST head, Denise Galea Pirotta, hinted at the abusive behaviour at a live-in for MCAST’s Pathway Programme during her exit interview. She claimed that both the then-president and principal were aware of the allegations.
An inquiry board confirmed claims that “lecturers who were supposed to take care of the students (with intellectual and developmental disabilities) brought in their partners, stood naked metres away from the students and also had parties, drank alcohol and conducted activities of a sexual nature.”
“MCAST management knew about this and did nothing.”
It found that the clique “was allowed to perpetuate a state of terror, bullying, authoritarian behaviour, and intimidation against lecturers and other MCAST staff.”
“Members of the same clique disappeared or deserted from work for personal service, and sometimes even to travel, and were therefore repeatedly and unjustifiably assigned to their duties.”
“Some even interfered and discouraged staff members in their religious practice, and they removed the crucifixes from some of the MCAST halls without any authority and refused to put them back in place.”
The abuse extended to students too, and in some cases involved transgender students of the programme.
Worryingly, the report hints at a lack of action from MCAST’s top officials when they were informed of the claims in 2017. Rather than tackling recommended action, those involved were handed warnings and in some cases even later promoted.
“The board are extremely concerned that nobody along the chain of command seemed to take these allegations seriously enough to take action,” the report reads.
“These were nothing but silly warnings that did not even cover what the inquiry board found them guilty of.”
In a right of reply to The Malta Independent, former principal Stephen Cachia that all allegations of sexual abuse were investigated, insisting that the report in question failed to give a fair picture of the situation.
“Inappropriate behaviour by some lecturers was reported but this was not in the presence of students and no students were involved. Two lecturers were issued with written warnings.”
“However, the manner in which the report was investigated was of serious concern to me since I felt that a serious injustice was being made towards the lecturers concerned. These concerns were expressed immediately in writing.”
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