Malka Leifer, a former principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school, was convicted guilty of 18 counts of sexual assault against two former students.
During a trial in the Victorian County Court, jurors on Monday returned divided verdicts against the 56-year-old mother of eight children.
In the Adass Israel School in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs between 2003 and 2007, she was charged with sexually assaulting Melbourne sisters Nicole Meyer, Dassi Erlich, and Elly Sapper.
Malka Leifer, a former principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school, was convicted guilty of 18 counts of sexual assault against two former students.
She was found guilty by the jury of 18 crimes involving offences against Erlich and Sapper.
Nine accusations against her were dropped, including the five that involved Meyer and several that involved Erlich.
Leifer did not respond as the jury’s judgements were read as she sat with her head cocked, observing the proceedings.
After moving to Melbourne in 2001, Leifer was appointed menaheles, or principal, of the girls’ school, but she was forced to resign in 2008 after charges surfaced.
Days thereafter, she escaped to Israel, where she remained for years before being accused in 2014.
The sisters testified before the jury that Leifer had assaulted them at his house, during individual sessions at the school, and on school camps.
Justin Lewis, the prosecutor, claimed Leifer shown a propensity for sexual interest in girls while they were adolescent students at the school and while they were student teachers.
Lewis claimed that the propensity was to have sex with them and to exploit their gullibility, lack of knowledge about sex, and her position of authority in order to do so.
Her attorney, Ian Hill QC, contended that the extended interval between the alleged offence and the trial’s February start date was unfair to the defence and the jury.
He criticised the sisters’ veracity and said one of them had told “blatant lies” in her testimony.
He claimed that “truth and dependability were lost in misleading accounts.”
Malka Leifer, a former principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school, was convicted guilty of 18 counts of sexual assault against two former students.
Possibly sometimes even calcified into false memories and illusions of false realities.
While Leifer was not found guilty on all counts, her victims said the verdict was “bittersweet,” but they are eager to go on with their lives.
Malka Leifer was found guilty, and Sapper observed, “When you know your truth and the truth is the truth, truth will prevail.
In light of what she did to us, Erlich remarked, “We couldn’t rest with the idea that she may abuse other people. How could we allow her to get away with it and continue hurting other young girls.
We have waited 11 years to say those words, but Malka Leifer is guilty, Meyer continued.
Dassi Erlich, Elly Sapper and Nicole Meyer at the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne.
Leifer’s punishment will come later.
