Jury returns verdicts in Malka Leifer case

After more than 31 hours of deliberation over nine days, former Jewish school principal Malka Leifer has been found guilty of raping two of her female students.

Leifer, 56, faced 27 charges after Nicole Meyer, Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper each accused her of abusing them between 2003 and 2007.

On Monday, Victorian County Court jurors found Leifer guilty of 18 charges, including five counts of rape and three counts of sexual penetration of a person aged 16 or 17.

She was found not guilty of all charges related to Ms. Meyer and guilty of all charges related to Ms. Sapper.

Leifer, an Israeli teacher who was transferred to head of religious studies at the Adass Israel School in 2001, has always maintained she was innocent.

She was charged with 10 counts of rape, 10 counts of indecent assault, three counts of indecent assault on a child aged 16 or 17, three counts of sexual penetration of a 16 or 17 year old child, and one count of rape through forced sexual penetration.

Police had alleged the crimes were committed while Leifer was headmaster of the south-east Melbourne school.

During a seven-week trial, the jury heard testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, including the three sisters, Adass Israel associates, police investigators, psychologists and psychiatrists.

The bulk of the testimonies came from the three sisters, who gave their main testimony for two weeks and were heard in a closed court.

After more than 31 hours of deliberations over nine days, the jury re-entered the courtroom shortly after 3:45 p.m. Monday in deep silence.

Leifer, who appeared calm and composed throughout the trial, stood up as the jury entered.

The three sisters sat in the back of the public gallery with pained expressions, holding hands and those there to support them.

The foreman, a man with curly brown hair, glasses and a dark-colored graphic sweater, stood up to tell Judge Gamble that the jury of six men and six women had reached unanimous verdicts.

“Yes, your honor,” he said.

He was run through the 27 counts by Judge Gamble’s aide and answered guilty or not guilty on each charge.

Leifer was unresponsive throughout the process, staring intently at the employee reading the counts.

From the beginning of the trial, Crown Prosecutor Justin Lewis had told the jury that the case relied “heavily” on testimony from the three sisters.

“It is common in cases like this that abuse tends to take place behind closed doors and out of prying eyes,” he said.

But Leifer’s lawyer, Ian Hill KC, told the jury that the sisters’ “credibility and reliability” would be a critical issue for them to decide.

“She had a good and professional relationship with them as students,” he said.

In his closing remarks, he wondered how the allegations against Ms. Leifer had evolved over time.

‘Perhaps you will change your mind and ask why,’ he said,

“Obviously, we say, over time the affection they had for Leifer has turned into an animosity.

“(It) grew like wildfire into a story that was added to and varied over the years.”

During the trial, Leifer sat holding a white and gold prayer book and was supported by family members, including a sister who had flown to Melbourne to be by her side.

The jury learned that the three plaintiffs had grown up in a “sheltered” life within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, with no access to television, the Internet or sex education.

They suffered, the court heard, physical and verbal abuse growing up at the hands of their mother, and looked up to Leifer as a vicarious “mother figure.”

The prosecution had alleged that Leifer had taken advantage of their vulnerability by organizing “private education” sessions in which she sexually assaulted them.

“These sisters had a miserable family life and as far as the defendant is concerned, they were ripe for the picking,” said Mr. Lewis in his closing remarks.

“They received affection from one of the most respected persons they knew. How could they not feel special?’

It was alleged that she abused the sisters in the school’s offices, her home in Elsternwick and at school camps, among other places.

The sisters, who were four years old, claimed the abuse began in year 11 and continued after they graduated and returned to the school as junior religious teachers.

Allegations were first leveled at Leifer in 2008, when Dassi Erlich began seeing a counselor in mid-2007.

Social worker Chana Rabinowitz told the jury she contacted the school board in early 2008 after a “particularly emotional” session.

“I finally had a better idea of ​​what could be going on with her,” she said.

“I remember vividly asking her who had hurt her . . . she whispered to me that it was Mrs. Leifer.”

Leifer was pulled out by the board in March of that year and later told friend and colleague Esther Speigleman that she thought it was unfair.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Leifer said.

Leifer was originally set to stand trial on 29 charges, but she was acquitted of two after the court heard evidence suggesting the alleged crime occurred before legislation against Ms. Leifer came into effect.

Judge Mark Gamble said the jury cannot determine beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged violations occurred on or after that date.

“These charges relate to a particular type of charge that only came into effect on December 1, 2006,” he said.

“You’ve heard evidence about the timing suggesting that if that crime happened, it probably happened before that date… So I’ve issued verdicts of not guilty.”