Malka Leifer Gets 15 Years In Jail: ‘Callous Indifference To Victims’ Suffering’

 

Malka Leifer, the former principal of the Adass Israel school in Melbourne who sexually abused two sisters before fleeing to Israel and then being extradited back to Australia, was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in jail.

Judge Mark Gamble said that Leifer had abused her position within Melbourne’s charedi community and her “insidious offending” had scarred the sisters for life.

Leifer, a mother of eight, was suspected of committing her crimes between 2004 and 2007.

According to the indictment, Leifer assaulted one of the sisters in 2006 after inviting her home to “sleep over for kallah lessons” — a kind of pre-wedding class that includes sexual education.

On other occasions, Leifer told the students she was preparing them to be wives, prosecutors told the court earlier this year.

“This will help you for your wedding night,” Leifer said after one sexual assault, according to Lewis.

“This is what is good for you,” she allegedly said during another incident.

Leifer later fled to Israel when rumors of her crimes started circulating in 2008 after one of the sisters told her therapist what had happened to her. In a protracted legal struggle to prevent her extradition, Leifer claimed mental incapacity before an Israeli court rejected her claims, leading eventually to her extradition in 2021.

Earlier this year, the court found her guilty on 18 of the 27 charges of sexual abuse levelled against her by three sisters- Dassi Erlich, Elly Sapper and Nicole Meyer.

A jury found her guilty of the crimes against Erlich and Sapper but acquitted her of the alleged crimes against Meyer.

The most serious convictions were for six counts of rape, each carrying a potential maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

In a victim impact statement read out to the court on Thursday, Sapper said the abuse had left her feeling “utterly broken,” “ashamed” and haunted by “vivid flashbacks.”

“She continues to blame herself for allowing Ms Leifer to love her. She feels ashamed for not stopping the abuse at the time,” said Gamble, reading from the statement.

Leifer was impassive as she watched the sentencing via video link from a maximum security prison in Melbourne. Leifer never pleaded guilty and has maintained her innocence throughout the entire legal procedure. Gamble dubbed her a “serious sexual offender” who had shown “callous indifference” to the suffering of her victims.

Leifer must now serve at least 11 years and six months of the sentence before she can be considered for early release. As soon as she is released from a Victoria state prison, she will likely be deported to Israel.

Gamble deducted 2,069 days from her sentence for time already served in custody in Australia since she returned in January 2021 and for time spent in Israel in custody and under home arrest.

Manny Waks, who heads VoiCSA, a group that works to combat child sexual abuse in the global Jewish community, hailed the sentencing.

“Today’s conclusion to this trial sends a powerful message to victims and survivors: justice can be achieved even when the road is long and challenging. It also acts as a strong deterrent to perpetrators; no one is above the law and the authorities will pursue justice regardless of when the crimes are alleged to have occurred,” he said.

He also praised the Australian authorities for continuing to probe the involvement of the school in the crimes.

“We are pleased that Victoria Police is continuing to investigate the alleged criminal actions of the Adass Israel School leadership in facilitating Leifer’s evasion from justice in 2008 by spiriting her out of Australia to Israel in the darkness of night. We hope and expect that they, too, will be held to full account,” Waks said.