Sisters Elly Sapper (left), Nicole Meyer (center) and Dassi Erlich (right) spoke to the media outside the County Court in Melbourne on 3 April 2023 after the trial of former school principal Malka Leifer. The former headmistress was found guilty on that day of sexually assaulting two of the sisters at an ultra‑orthodox Jewish school in Australia, 15 years after she escaped arrest by fleeing to Israel. (Photo by William West/AFP)
Malka Leifer, who had been principal of the Adass Israel School in Melbourne when first accused of sexual assault in 2008, was convicted on 18 charges, including raping a student during a sleep‑over and sexually assaulting another teenage pupil at a school camp. She was cleared of nine additional charges. A dual Israeli‑Australian citizen and mother of eight, Leifer fled to Israel before she could be arrested, prompting a protracted legal battle that involved more than 70 extradition hearings. She was finally returned to Australia in 2021 and faced trial in February 2023.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Leifer sexually assaulted three sisters who attended the Adass Israel School, part of a reclusive Jewish sect on the city’s outskirts. After a seven‑week trial and seven days of deliberations, the jury convicted Leifer of sexually assaulting two of the sisters. Throughout the proceedings she maintained her innocence, sitting with her hands folded and staring straight ahead as the verdicts were read.
“Leifer’s abuse held us hostage for many years,” said Dassi Erlich outside the court. “Today we can start to take that power back that she stole from us as children.” Her sister Elly Sapper added that justice had been served: “She abused the three of us for so many years and while today’s verdict may not properly reflect that, today Malka Leifer was finally found accountable.”
The court heard how Leifer exploited her high standing within the Adass community to prey on the sisters. According to the indictment, she raped one student in 2006 after inviting her home for a “sleep‑over for kallah lessons,” a pre‑wedding etiquette class that includes sexual education. Prosecutor Justin Lewis told the court that Leifer told students she was preparing them to be wives, saying, “This will help you for your wedding night,” after one assault, and “This is what is good for you,” after another.
Leifer fled Australia in 2008 after a student confided in her therapist about the assaults. She eventually settled in the ultra‑orthodox Emmanuel settlement in the occupied West Bank. Australian police filed charges against her in 2012 and requested extradition from Israel two years later, launching a lengthy legal saga. Leifer claimed crippling depression had left her catatonic and mentally incapable of standing trial, prompting a suspension of the extradition process. The suspension was lifted after a private investigator secretly filmed Leifer performing daily chores, apparently unaffected by the mental illnesses she had claimed, leading to her extradition to Melbourne in 2021.
Defence lawyer Ian Hill previously said Leifer denied “all of the criminal conduct alleged by each of the complainants” and maintained that her interactions with the students were “professional and proper.” “We deny that they are telling the truth,” he said.
Comments are closed for this story.