Malka Leifer, who had led an ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne, was found guilty of sexually abusing students more than 15 years ago.
The former principal of a girls’ school in Melbourne, Australia, was found guilty Monday on 18 charges of sexually abusing two students more than 15 years ago in a case whose yearslong extradition battle tested relations between Australia and Israel.
The defendant, Malka Leifer, 56 — who faced 27 counts of sexual abuse in all and was acquitted on nine — was on trial for incidents alleged to have taken place between 2003 and 2007, when she was principal of the Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish institution. She pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Three sisters — Nicole Meyer, 37, Dassi Erlich, 35, and Elly Sapper, 34 — were named as the victims in the case. Prosecutors said the abuse began when they were students and continued after they became student teachers there. The incidents were alleged to have occurred at the school, at camps organized by the school and at Ms. Leifer’s home.
The prosecutors argued that Ms. Leifer exploited her authority over the sisters, as well as their vulnerability and lack of knowledge about sexual matters. Ms. Leifer’s lawyers argued that the sisters were unreliable witnesses whose accounts had changed over the years.
A jury handed down a verdict after a six-week trial and nine days of deliberation. The 18 charges Ms. Leifer was found guilty of included rape, indecent assault and sexual penetration and indecent assault of a 16- or 17-year-old. She was acquitted of charges of rape and indecent assault.
The charges that resulted in convictions related to Ms. Sapper and Ms. Erlich, while those resulting in acquittals related to Ms. Meyer and Ms. Erlich, Ms. Meyer confirmed.
Ms. Leifer, a married mother of eight, fled to Israel in 2008 after allegations of sexual abuse first surfaced, and was arrested there in 2014 at Australia’s request. The sisters campaigned to have her extradited to Australia, and several Australian politicians, including two prime ministers, raised the matter with their Israeli counterparts.
But the process was delayed several times after Ms. Leifer claimed to have mental health difficulties, and a psychiatric evaluation found her unfit to stand trial.
Eventually, an Israeli judge approved Ms. Leifer’s extradition, ruling that she had faked mental illness for years. She was returned to Australia in 2021.
Last year, Yaakov Litzman, an Israeli lawmaker, was sentenced to an eight-month suspended jail sentence over accusations that he used his position to pressure psychiatrists to deem Ms. Leifer unfit to stand trial.
The case against Ms. Leifer relied on the testimony of the three sisters, who gave evidence and were cross-examined for two weeks in a courtroom that was closed to the public and the news media. The prosecution also called police officers, psychologists and members of the school’s staff as witnesses.
Ms. Leifer did not testify, and the defense called no witnesses.
A prosecutor, Justin Lewis, told jurors that the sisters were raised in an isolated ultra-Orthodox community, had a “miserable home life,” were conditioned not to question authority and received no sex education. He said Ms. Leifer had taken advantage of those factors, as well as her own respected status in the community, to manipulate them.
The sisters testified that they had not understood the sexual nature of what was being done to them, according to Mr. Lewis.
A defense lawyer, Ian Hill, said there were enough inconsistencies in the sisters’ stories to create reasonable doubt about the accusations. He said their version of the events evolved and “grew like wildfire.”
At a news conference after the verdict was handed down, Ms. Erlich said it was “a day we have waited so long for.”
“Her abuse has held us hostage for so long,” she added. “Today we can start to take that power back that she stole from us as children.”
“Malka Leifer is guilty,” Ms. Meyer said. “We have waited 11 years to say those words. Yes, it’s bittersweet, but she is guilty.”
Ms. Leifer will be sentenced at a later date.
Malka Leifer Found Guilty in Student Sexual Abuse Case in Australia - The New York Times
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