Melbourne:Malka Leifer, a former Jewish girls school principal who has since been found guilty of sexual offences, was given a Wednesday court date in Australia for a two-day sentencing hearing.
The 56-year-old mother of eight and Israeli citizen was found guilty by a Victoria state County Court jury on early this month of 18 charges related to the sexual abuse of sisters Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper between the years of 2003 and 2007 while they were pupils and student teachers at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne.
Judge Mark Gamble scheduled Leifer's sentencing hearing for June 28–29 during a procedural hearing that she attended from behind bars on Wednesday.
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Gamble stated that there were important issues he wanted prosecutor Justin Lewis and Leifer's attorney Ian Hill to address during the hearing, including specifics about the time Leifer spent in Israeli police or correctional custody.
According to Gamble, this includes time spent in "quasi-custody" like home detention.
Rape, indecent assault, and sexual penetration of a 16- or 17-year-old child are among the convictions.
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Nine charges against her were dropped, including the five that involved Nicole Meyer, the older sister of the defendants. Leifer was removed from his position in 2008 after the Adass Israel School board first received allegations of abuse.
She quickly escaped to Israel. She was charged in 2014 and fought extradition to Australia for years before it was finally granted in 2020. Early in 2021, she left Israel.
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"The sentence will protect her from hurting others, but she has been found guilty — the whole world will know that now," Meyer said to reporters