Alleged sex abuser Leifer may argue teen girls were almost consenting adults

The defense team for alleged child sex abuser Malka Leifer has hinted during a Supreme Court hearing earlier today that it will argue that the former ultra-Orthodox girls’ school principal had not sexually exploited her students because some of the alleged abuse took place when the girls were around the consenting age of 18.

Defense attorney Nick Kaufman, who has joined the long list of attorneys hired to represent Leifer, tells reporters after the hearing that both Australia and Israel would need to prove that the alleged victims did not consent to the sexual acts that were carried out with the principal — a peculiar assertion given that the alleged abuse began when the former students were as young as 15 and because Leifer was a figure with authority over them.

Moreover, the Israeli court system is not trying the crimes that took place in Australia, but rather only determining whether Leifer is fit to be extradited to face justice there.

Leifer herself appeared at the hearing for the first time in years, albeit over Zoom. During the proceedings Judge Daphna Barak-Erez scolded Leifer for putting her head down. She was photographed by one of the hearing’s attendees but the court barred him from distributing the photos for publication. The Times of Israel has filed a request with the court to publish the photos.

A decision on Leifer’s appeal is expected in the coming days.

The sides will reconvene tomorrow at the Jerusalem District Court for an extradition hearing, which was scheduled in May after Leifer was deemed to have been feigning mental illness to evade facing justice.

The defense has already appealed that decision and the Supreme Court is slated to reconvene on the matter on July 29.

— Jacob Magid