Australia Jewish School Board Faces Probe for Letting ‘Sex Abuse’ Headmistress Flee
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Melbourne police are considering opening a criminal investigation into board members of a Jewish day school who helped a former headmaster flee to Israel ahead of allegations of child sexual abuse.
Malka Leifer, the former principal of Melbourne’s Adass Israel School fled Australia in 2008 ahead of allegations of sexual assault on eight girls at the school.
Leifer is currently under house arrest in Israel as extradition proceedings get underway.
In Melbourne’s Supreme Court earlier this month one of the students was awarded over $1 million in damages from the school over the board’s actions in aiding Leifer to leave after she had been fired, and for its failure to report the incidents to the police.
A spokesperson for Victoria Police told JTA: “Police will be looking at this as a broader part of the investigation to determine whether an offense has been committed.”
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
