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Malka Leifer, the former principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne, will be sentenced on Thursday for sexually abusing two former students.<\/p>\n
The 15-year campaign for her to face justice will culminate in the County Court as Judge Mark Gamble hands down a sentence, expected to take about three hours, against Leifer, who is expected to appear via video link from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.<\/p>\n
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A court sketch of Malka Leifer, who is awaiting sentence on crimes including rape and indecent assault.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Paul Tyquin\/Nine News<\/cite><\/p>\n After a six-week trial, a jury in April found Leifer, 56, guilty of assaulting and raping sisters Elly Sapper and Dassi Erlich between 2003 and 2007, when the pair were pupils of Adass Israel School in Elsternwick, part of a small enclave of ultra-conservative Jewish families in Melbourne\u2019s inner south-east.<\/p>\n The jury found Leifer guilty of 18 rape and sexual assault charges and not guilty of nine. She was cleared of all charges relating to a third sister, Nicole Meyer.<\/p>\n The sisters have granted The Age<\/em> permission to use their names. Meyer, speaking before the court hearing on behalf of the sisters, said Leifer\u2019s sentence was the conclusion of their decades-long battle to see justice done.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether she wants to or not, she will have to answer for her crimes, she will have to accept what the judge says,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe judge will lay down the law … we\u2019re very nervous but also there is that hope there.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyer said she and her sisters had been discussing the repercussions for them and other victims throughout Australia, and the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are giving each other strength … Elly and Dassi and the three of us are drawing strength,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n Leifer has been in custody since January 2021 when she returned to Australia, and was transported to court each day in a prison van away from public view. During the trial, she focused closely on her barrister Ian Hill, KC, and rarely looked at the jury.<\/p>\n Malka Leifer (right) appears in a court in Israel in 2018.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n Time served in Israel will be considered in Leifer\u2019s sentence in Australia.<\/p>\n Caulfield MP David Southwick, who supported the sisters, said the sentence ends a painful and traumatic saga.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it will also serve as a sobering reminder of the work we need to keep doing, in order to keep our children safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Manny Waks, a child sex abuse survivor, said he felt unease in the ultra-Orthodox Chabad community before the sentence.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an element of tension that can be felt, as if they are expecting a further twist in this prolonged, sordid case. Personally, it\u2019s really difficult to believe that this case is on the cusp of being concluded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Leifer was extradited to Australia after a six-year legal battle that at times made the relationship between Australia and Israel uneasy, and angered Melbourne\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n Her charging and prosecution became an international scandal after Leifer for several years successfully fought attempts to bring her home to face the allegations by claiming she was incapable of travel due to a medical condition.<\/p>\n In June Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed that board members from Adass Israel School, the ultra-Orthodox school who employed Leifer and who allegedly helped her flee to Israel, were back under investigation.<\/p>\n The judge will lay down the law … we\u2019re very nervous but also there is that hope there.<\/p>\n A civil case brought against the school in 2015 revealed that several board members allegedly helped Leifer flee on a 1.20am flight to Israel after a meeting to discuss abuse allegations in March 2008.<\/p>\n Justice Jack Rush found the circumstances of Leifer\u2019s departure from Australia \u201cextraordinary\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conduct demonstrates a disdain for due process of criminal investigation in this state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Patton said police suspended their school board investigation while separate criminal proceedings against Leifer were progressing, but it has now \u201cre-commenced\u201d the probe after the verdict.<\/p>\n The police investigation was first discontinued in 2018 because there was \u201cinsufficient evidence to proceed with any charges at this time\u201d. Police declined to comment on the investigation but confirmed it is still underway. The Age<\/em> is not suggesting the board members are likely to be charged.<\/p>\n Gamble\u2019s task in determining Leifer\u2019s sentence is complex. There is not much guiding legal precedent on how to interpret the home detention that Leifer was under in Israel, and to what extent it should be deducted from her time in an Australian prison.<\/p>\n That difficulty is compounded when considering that, as the Crown argued, Leifer was responsible for the detention when she faked the illness that prevented her extradition.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n