Police reopen probe into school board over how Malka Leifer fled
Police backflip on investigation into Adass Israel School board over how convicted sex offender Malka Leifer was able to flee the country and evade justice for over ten years.
Victoria Police has backflipped and reopened its investigation into the board of Melbourne’s ultra-orthodox Adass Israel School for its role in helping convicted sex offender Malka Leifer flee Australia.
The surprise move could see senior Jewish community figures and others charged over the decision to send the former school principal to Israel in March 2008 when they knew she had been accused by her former students of sexual assault.
Ms Leifer, who is awaiting sentencing on 18 counts of sexual assault against two former students, was put on a flight to Israel at 1.20am on March 6, 2008, only hours after the school board learned of the allegations against her. The move meant Ms Leifer was able to evade Australian courts for more than a decade.
In a civil judgment against the school in 2016, former Victorian Supreme Court Justice Jack Rush stated: “In such circumstances the alleged perpetrator should not be assisted to urgently flee the jurisdiction. The failure of the board to report the allegations to police prior to arranging Leifer’s urgent departure is deplorable.”
Dassi Erlich, one of Ms Leifer’s victims, welcomed the decision, saying the actions of the school board had perpetrated the anguish of her victims and delayed justice. “I am encouraged by the decision of the police to reopen the case against the school board,” Ms Erlich told the Weekend Australian.
“The actions of the board in facilitating Malka Leifer’s escape not only betrayed the pursuit of justice and caused significant delays, it also perpetuated the anguish we were forced to endure and hindered our path to healing.
“It‘s crucial that the board’s role is thoroughly examined and addressed to send a clear message to those that aid and abet perpetrators will not escape scrutiny.”
The move amounts to a backflip by Victoria Police which stated after the guilty verdict against Ms Leifer in April that it would not reopen its investigation into the actions of the school board because of “insufficient evidence”.
The change of mind follows a fiery letter written in late April by former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu to Chief Commissioner Shane Patton saying there had been “enormous disappointment across the community” for the decision not to further investigate the school board.
On Friday, the office of the Chief Commissioner wrote to Mr Baillieu and former Victorian trade minister Philip Dalidakis saying: “As the criminal proceedings against Ms Leifer have been finalised, Crime Command has recommenced their investigation into the Adass Israel School Board.”
“This is a significant and important step,’ Mr Baillieu told the Weekend Australian. “Victoria Police have done a magnificent job to take this case to trial and get a conviction. It is important that the activities of the board be investigated.”
The investigation will focus on a meeting of the school board and community leaders at the house of the late businessman Izzy Herzog on March 5, 2008. The board had become aware of at least eight separate allegations of abuse involving Leifer and girls at the school. In attendance was school board president Yitzhok Benedikt, school board member Meir Ernst, the late barrister Norman Rosenbaum, psychologist Vicki Gordon and a teacher Sharon Bromberg.
The group put Leifer on speakerphone and put the allegations to her. Leifer was then told she would be stood down but it was agreed that, rather than report her to police, the principal should be spirited out of the country.
Dassi Ernst, the wife of school board member Meir, asked a local travel agent to open at 10pm that night to book a plane ticket to Israel. Less than four hours later – at 1.20am – Leifer and four of her children flew to Israel. The school paid for her ticket.
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