Israeli ex-principal found guilty of sexually assaulting students at Jewish girls school in Australia

An Israeli former principal of an Australian ultra-orthodox Jewish school has been found guilty of sexually assaulting teenage students by a Melbourne court.

Malka Leifer, 56, who was extradited to Australia from Israel in 2021 after fleeing the country in 2008, has been found guilty of 18 sexual offences.

Nicole Meyer, Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper – three sisters who were teenagers then – accused Leifer of sexually abusing and raping them between 2003 and 2007 at Melbourne’s Adass Israel School.

On Monday, the County Court of Victoria found Leifer guilty of raping and indecently assaulting Ms Erlich and Ms Sapper, but not for charges filed by Ms Meyer, after a six-week trial.

The jury cleared her of nine other charges.

The former principal and mother of eight children pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Following the judgement, Ms Erlich told reporters outside a Melbourne court: “Sometimes it just amazes us when we look at the journey that it’s taken, for so long and for so many years, to get to this moment is absolutely overwhelming.”

“When we look back at the journey that it took, everything that happened in Israel, it was so unbelievable that we get to this time and we have: she’s guilty, she’s guilty; that can’t be taken away, she is guilty.”

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The high-profile case became an international scandal after Leifer fled Australia in the middle of the night in March 2009 after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced.

The principal fought her extradition and argued she was mentally unfit for trial. The Israeli court had then initially suspended her extradition, sparking strained relations between Australia and Israel.

It was after undercover private investigators filmed her shopping and depositing cheques at a bank she was investigated and arrested in 2018.

She was extradited after a six-year legal battle. An Israeli judge said she was “impersonating someone with mental illness”.

Prosecutor Justin Lewis told the jury that Leifer “groomed and sexually abused” the teenage girls. Mr Lewis said she was a “respected member of their community and was in a position of authority that she was fully prepared to exploit”.

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“She knew that [the complainants] were vulnerable and she used that knowledge to exploit them. Knowing that they were neglected at home, she pretended that she loved them and told them that she was helping them,” he said.

The girls had little understanding about sex due to their upbringing in an ultra-conservative Jewish faith and community, he said.

But defence barrister Ian Hill had countered that the allegations were based on “false imaginations and false memories”.

Leifer will return to court on 26 April to fix a date for her sentencing.

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).