ISRAEL
Ynet
Tali Farkash, Aviel Megnazi
Published: 05.14.15
While extradition proceedings are taking place in Israel to bring the former principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne to trial in Australia on suspicion of sexually abusing three of her students, Victoria’s Supreme Court has begun hearing a civil claim filed by one of the girls.
“She liked to hug me like a baby, and rock me. She said I should consider her like a mother who loved me, and that I was special,” the former student, who is now in her 20s, told the court, according to the Herald Sun.
Malka Leifer, a mother of eight children who ran the Adass Israel school for girls in Melbourne, is at the center of the civil suit. She escaped to Israel two days after details were revealed about 74 sexual offenses she allegedly committed against three sisters. The school was also sued for not passing the student’s complaint to the authorities. The principal was updated on the complaint, which allowed her to immediately flee Australia.
She was arrested last August and placed under house arrest until the completion of the extradition proceedings. In Australia, she is expected to face criminal charges in addition to the civil trial. The Australian authorities filed to extradition request with the Israeli authorities in July 2013. The Australian request noted that Leifer is facing trial for 47 indecent act offenses, 13 offenses of indecent assault of a minor, 11 rape charges and three additional charges.
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