Malka Leifer to stand trial on 70 charges of child sexual abuse – VIDEO

VIDEO: Julie Szego reports on a dramatic day of evidence in Leifer’s committal hearing in Melbourne

MALKA LEIFER HAS been ordered to stand trial on 70 charges of child sexual abuse after a magistrate found yesterday that there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction.

Four of the original 74 charges against the former principal of Adass Israel School were dropped because they occurred in Israel, outside the territorial jurisdiction of Victoria.

But Magistrate Joanna Metcalf said there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction for the remainder of the offences. Leifer has pleaded “not guilty” to all charges and did not apply for bail.

The complainants – sisters Elly Sapper, Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer – have been granted a court order that allows them to publicly identify themselves.

Earlier in the committal hearing yesterday, Dassi Erlich’s ex-husband, Joshua Erlich, told the court that when the couple were in Israel in 2008, his then-wife told him she had spoken to a former counsellor at the school, Chana Rabinowitz, about her interactions with Leifer.

His wife had started seeing Mrs Rabinowitz to deal with some personal behavioural issues and some problems she had gone through with her mother when she was much younger, Mr Erlich told defence counsel, Ian Hill, QC.

“Dassi told me that something came up about her relationship with Mrs Leifer, and for reasons she didn’t understand, Mrs Rabinowitz took those comments very seriously and wanted to investigate it and Dassi wanted to persuade her not to do anything about it. But Mrs Rabinowitz persisted,” Joshua Erlich said.

Under questioning from Mr Hill, Mr Erlich agreed that his wife told him “Mrs Rabinowitz was taking the significance of the information out of all proportion”.

“From what Dassi told me at the time, Mrs Rabinowitz contacted Nicole, who confirmed whatever Dassi said. Mrs Rabinowitz then took it further to the administration of the school.”