A former head teacher was convicted guilty of sexually abusing two sisters at an ultraorthodox Jewish school in Australia 15 years after fleeing to Israel to avoid imprisonment. Malka Leifer was found guilty on 18 counts by a jury in Melbourne on Monday, including raping a kid at a sleepover and sexually abusing a teenager during a school camp. She was cleared of nine further counts. As the judgments were read, Leifer, who has maintained her innocence throughout, sat with her hands folded and gazed straight ahead. Sentencing will take place at a later date.
When she was initially accused of sexual assault in 2008, Leifer was the principal of the Adass Israel School in Melbourne. Leifer, a dual Israeli-Australian citizen, fled to Israel before being apprehended, prompting a protracted legal struggle spanning more than 70 extradition sessions. During the trial, prosecutors said that Leifer sexually attacked three sisters who attended the Adass Israel School, which is part of a secretive Jewish sect on the city’s outskirts. The jury convicted Leifer of sexually abusing two of the sisters after a seven-week trial and seven days of deliberation. “She mistreated the three of us for so many years, and while today’s decision may not fully represent that, Malka Leifer was finally held accountable today,” Elly Sapper, one of the sisters, said outside the court. “She is guilty, and she will face consequences.” “Today, justice was served,” Leifer said as she left Australia after one of the students told her therapist about the sexual attacks. She finally relocated in the occupied West Bank’s ultraorthodox Emmanuel illegal community. In 2012, Australian authorities charged Leifer and demanded her extradition from Israel two years later, resulting in a protracted court process.
Leifer claimed that she was catatonic due to crippling sadness and that she was psychologically incapable of standing trial. The extradition procedure was halted until a private investigator discreetly videotaped Leifer going about her daily tasks, clearly not suffering from the mental problems she claimed. In 2021, she was finally extradited to Melbourne on an aircraft. According to Leifer’s lawyer, Ian Hill, she rejected “any of the criminal activity described by each of the complainants” and that her dealings with the students were “professional and legitimate.” “We don’t believe they’re speaking the truth,” he stated.
