School ordered to pay student $1m for sex abuse

By Patrick Hatch
Age
September 16, 2015

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/former-elsternwick-student-awarded-1m-over-sex-abuse-by-fugitive-adass-israel-school-principal-20150915-gjn263.html

Adass Israel School in Elsternwick. Photo by Pat Scala

Malka Leifer: Under house arrest in Jerusalem.

A woman has been awarded more than $1 million in damages for sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her school principal.

The landmark Supreme Court decision is one of Victoria's highest ever payouts in a child sex abuse case and sets a precedent that one legal expert said would "strike terror into the hearts" of schools embroiled in abuse scandals across the country. 

This decision will be striking terror into the hearts of a number of schools, particularly a number of the private schools that have been in the media recently and the subject of royal commission public hearings. 

Lawyer Angela Sdrinis

The woman is one of three sisters alleged to have been sexually abused by former Adass Israel School principal Malka Leifer, whom the school flew out of Australia when allegations came to light in 2008.

Mrs Leifer, a mother of eight, was arrested in Israel in August 2014 and is facing extradition to Australia, where she is wanted on 74 counts of sexual assault.

The former student of the ultra-orthodox Jewish school told the court the abuse started in 2002, when she was 15 years old, and took place at the school's Elsternwick campus, at the principal's home and on school camps. 

By the time the alleged victim was 16, the principal was touching the student's skin and penetrating her, the court heard.

Handing down his verdict on Wednesday, Justice Jack Rush said the effect of the abuse had been "profound" and included flashbacks, nightmares and persistent depression. 

He slammed as "deplorable" and "disgraceful" the school's response when the abuse came to light in March 2008, which involved a committee meeting to arrange to fly Mrs Leifer out of the country. 

The school's legal team argued that a separate body responsible for religious education had employed Mrs Leifer, not the school, but Justice Rush found Mrs Leifer's role was so powerful that her actions amounted to being that of the school's.

He ordered it to pay the former student $1,024,428 for her ongoing suffering, economic loss and medical expenses. 

Lawyer Angela Sdrinis, who has represented over 1500 victims of institutional abuse, said Justice Rush's decision was a landmark case that would make it easier for other victims to sue schools.

Ms Sdrinis said she was not aware of any other case where a school had been found directly and vicariously liable for child sex abuse, as Justice Rush had ruled.  

"What's also interesting it that the exemplary damages [of $100,000] haven't been awarded in relation to the sexual abuse, but in relation to how the school responded when it became aware of the sexual abuse," she said.

"This decision will be striking terror into the hearts of a number of schools, particularly a number of the private schools that have been in the media recently and the subject of royal commission public hearings".

Justice Rush awarded damages of $150,000 against Mrs Leifer, who is under house arrest in Israel while Australian authorities try to extradite her. 

Manny Waks, founder of Jewish child abuse victim's advocacy group Tzedek, said he was pleased for the "courageous" victim and hoped the evidence heard in court would hasten Mrs Leifer's extradition.