Malka Leifer, who was found guilty of rape and indecent assault of a minor, will be sentenced on August 24 in Australia.
The date was set on Friday by Judge Mark Gamble after three days of submissions regarding what sentence Leifer should receive after she was convicted, The Associated Press reported.
She was convicted by a Victoria state jury in April, where she was found guilty of 18 of the 29 counts of sexual abuse charges against two sisters that she was on trial for.
The Press described the sentencing as “potentially the final chapter of an extended battle that tested Israeli-Australian relations” with regards to bringing Leifer to justice.
Leifer’s life up to her conviction
Leifer, who is a mother of eight, was the principal of the Adass Israel School for girls in the city of Melbourne, where the two victims she assaulted were students. Shortly after she was initially accused of the crime in 2008, she fled from Australia to Israel where she stayed until 2021 when Israeli courts ruled her to be mentally fit to be extradited and stand trial in Australia.
LIKE MALKA LEIFER, he preyed on unsuspecting, same-sex minors: Australian sisters Elly Sapper, Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer, allegedly sexually abused by former headteacher Leifer. (Pictured: In Jerusalem District Court, 2019). (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)She abused the two girls between 2003 and 2007. Leifer denies all charges.
Judge Gamble will consider the 52 days in Israeli custody and the 608 days in home detention that Leifer already underwent while issuing the sentence, according to the Press. The judge also said that Israeli psychiatrists accepted that Leifer had suffered from anxiety and depression, but also said that the courts nor the psychiatrists considered whether such conditions had affected Leifer to exaggerate her mental illness to avoid extradition.
Ariella Marsden and Zvika Klein contributed to this report.
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