Malka Leifer did not ask for bail during a court hearing in Victoria, less than a day after landing in Melbourne after her extradition from Israel, and almost 13 years after leaving Australia amid allegations of child sexual abuse.
Appearing at the Melbourne magistrates’ court via video link on Thursday morning, Leifer did not speak when magistrate Johanna Metcalf asked if she could hear her, despite police confirming that the technology was working.
Leifer leaned over a table and buried his face in his arms on the table in front of him during the filing hearing. She appeared to be wearing the same clothes and head covering – a Jewish religious custom to maintain modesty – as when she was photographed leaving Israel on Monday.
The court heard the 74 child sexual abuse charges she faces in her time as head of the school for ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls Adass Israel in Melbourne, related to three whistleblowers.
The court documents detail the 74 charges – consisting of 11 counts of rape, 47 counts of indecent assault, 13 of committing an indecent act with a child and three of sexual intercourse with a child. They took place mainly in Elsternwick, the Melbourne suburb where the Adass Israel School and the Adass community are located.
The names of the victims and details of some of the charges were drafted.
There are also charges for acts allegedly occurred in Rawson, Blampied and Emerald, allegedly related to school camps.
One indictment alleges that Leifer raped a victim “forcing (the victim) … without his consent to sexually penetrate Malka Leifer”, while Leifer was aware that the victim “was not consenting or could not be consenting”.
Another charge alleges that Leifer raped a victim “by intentionally sexually penetrating her without her consent … while knowing that she was not consenting or could not be consenting”.
The oldest charge was dated January 1, 2004, and the final charges were reported to have occurred until March 2008. The police charge sheet alleges that Leifer “fled Australia” on March 6, 2008. The charges were filed in March of 2012.
Dassi Erlich, Elly Saper and Nicole Meyer, three sisters who alleged abuse by Leifer when they were his students, attended the hearing, which was broadcast to the media.
Leifer has consistently maintained his innocence regarding the charges.
Leifer’s lawyer, Tony Hargreaves, said that Victoria police provided her client with “several different types of medication” for “significant mental health problems” during her extradition, and noted that she had “very strict religious beliefs” that should be accommodated in custody for the time being.
Hargreaves asked that Leifer be transferred from police custody to a prison, because “there are simply no facilities available” to accommodate his religious observation in police custody.
On Wednesday, Adass Israel School director Aaron Strasser announced that he would offer an advisory evening to current and alumni, parents and staff, while warning the community not to comment on journalists, due to the significant media attention the case has drawn .
“We recognize that Ms. Leifer’s presence in Australia can spark a range of reactions in our school community, including our staff, students and parents, and questions can be asked about the issue in the coming days,” he said.
“We want to assure you that Adass Israel School fully supports the legal process in place and will do whatever is requested by the authorities to assist in processing this case,” said Strasser.
Leifer, 54, is serving a mandatory 14-day coronavirus isolation period for all arrivals in Australia.
Leifer arrived at Melbourne airport around 9 pm on Wednesday, where the Victorian police received her and drove her to a vehicle on the airport runway.
She was flown out of Israel before Tel Aviv airport was closed on Tuesday, as part of the tightening of coronavirus restrictions, and flew first to Frankfurt, then via Singapore, before landing in Melbourne.
Leifer left Australia for Israel in 2008, after allegations were raised, and since then she has faced more than 70 extradition hearings over a six-year trial.
Leifer was arrested and placed under house arrest in Israel after extradition orders were issued by Victoria police in 2014.
An Israeli court at first found her mentally incapable of extradition. However, Israeli police arrested Leifer again after private investigators filmed her talking about her daily life in the Emmanuel settlement in the West Bank, where she lived.
The case made news after accusations that Israel’s then deputy health minister, Yaacov Litzman – who comes from the same sect as Leifer’s ultra-Orthodox Judaism – allegedly tried to influence the former director’s psychiatric assessments. Litzman denied any wrongdoing.
In December, after the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Leifer was faking mental illness and was ready to be extradited to Australia, the court rejected his final appeal.
Leifer was detained to appear before the Melbourne magistrates’ court for an initial hearing on April 9. It will appear through the video link.