AUSTRALIA
The Age
Patrick Hatch
A school principal used a student’s abusive home life as a way to groom and then sexually abuse her over several years, a court has heard.
A former student of Adass Israel Girls School, in Elsterwick, is suing the school for damages stemming from abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of former principal Malka Leifer.
The school sacked Mrs Leifer in March 2008 after allegations of impropriety came to light.
The Supreme Court heard on Tuesday that a member of the school’s committee arranged the plane tickets so Mrs Leifer could leave the country within two days of being sacked.
Mrs Leifer was arrested in Israel in August last year and extradition proceedings are underway to bring her to Victoria to face sex abuse charges.
The court heard on Wednesday that the former student’s abuse started in 2002, when she was 15, and as a result had suffered flashbacks, nightmares, persistent depression, post traumatic stress disorder and at one point was suicidal.
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