Ex-Principal Of Jewish School Who Fled Sexual Abuse Charges Denied Bail
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Alleged sex offender Malka Leifer lost an appeal for release to house arrest during extradition proceedings, the same day that an Australian newspaper quoted an Israeli man as saying she molested his daughter.
The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday denied bail to Leifer, 54, the former principal of a Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne who fled to Israel in 2008 amid allegations that she sexually abused students there. She is wanted on 74 charges of child sexual abuse in Melbourne.
The former principal of the Adass Yisroel girls’ school, where the alleged crimes took place, had remained out of jail on bail and avoided court proceedings to seek her extradition to Australia by claiming mental incapacity, and missed several court appearances by saying she was feeling unwell. She was arrested in February after an undercover investigation found that she lived a normal life and was mentally fit to face extradition proceedings.
Leifer’s attorneys will appeal Sunday’s decision.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Sunday that a resident of Emmanuel, the haredi Orthodox West Bank town where Leifer lives with her husband and 10 children, has alleged that she sexually molested his daughter while tutoring her in religious studies.
The man, identified as Daniel, told the newspaper he saw her touching another girl as well and alleged that she lures children into her apartment by offering them food, or to tutor them for free.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
