Leifer’s attorney: Media has turned her ‘into a monster’

Malka Leifer’s attorney Nick Kaufman asserts after today’s extradition hearing that he does not intend to cause suffering to the alleged victims by attempting to poke holes in their story.

However, he says, his client is “entitled to the presumption of innocence.”

“The media has turned her into a monster,” Kaufman says, claiming the requirements for extradition were not met by Israel.

“I’m not saying that [the alleged victims] agreed to the [sexual] acts [performed on them]. However, the onus is on the prosecution to prove that there was lack of consent and that there was awareness by the defendant that there was a lack of consent.”

Listening to the comment outside the courthouse, sex abuse victims advocate Manny Waks says he is “disgusted” by Kaufman’s remarks.

“Here we have someone claiming to be experienced in prosecuting sexual offenses trying to poke holes in what the victims claim, that the fact that they continued seeing Leifer proves that they had consented to the abuse. You can’t claim to be a prosecutor experienced with these cases and then ignore the reality that victims frequently return to their abusers,” he says.

— Jacob Magid