Malka Leifer ‘stole my body’
'Today I stand as a survivor. Your darkness does not define me. Instead, I choose to focus on the light within myself, the love that surrounds me and the power of my own voice.'
“MALKA Leifer, you shattered my trust and stole my body and altered my life’s course, but you could not break my spirit,” sexual abuse survivor Dassi Erlich told the County Court of Victoria yesterday.
“Today I stand as a survivor. Your darkness does not define me. Instead, I choose to focus on the light within myself, the love that surrounds me and the power of my own voice. I will continue to heal and grow and thrive.”
Attendees at Wednesday’s pre-sentence hearing sat hushed — and Malka Leifer, due to be sentenced, followed proceedings by video link from prison, sitting expressionless — as Erlich and her sister Elly Sapper read their victim impact statements in court.
Judge Mark Gamble allowed Erlich to read her statement from the lectern in full view of Leifer and from where the convicted former Adass school principal could see her victim.
In April, a County Court jury found Leifer guilty of 18 out of the 27 charges against her, including rape, indecent assault and sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17 — relating to incidents in 2004-07 while Leifer was principal.
Erlich, now 35, stated, “Malka, Leifer stole my body, I was forced to sever the connection to my physical self in order to survive. I was set up for future harm as I entered abusive situations blinded because of her sexual abuse.”
Co-complainant Elly Sapper, now 34, Erlich’s sister, delivered her victim impact statement. “Growing up in a home devoid of love and affection, my heart yearned for love. And when confronted with the painful truth, that [Leifer’s] love wasn’t real, was a betrayal of such magnitude it left me utterly broken.”
Outside the court, Erlich and Sapper joined their sister Nicole Meyer, who read her own victim impact statement. Although the jury had not found any guilty verdicts in relation to Meyer, she indicated she was seeking to speak for victims who feel they have not received justice.
Addressing the court in relation to Leifer’s sentencing, Leifer’s barrister Ian Hill, KC, said his client’s mental health had deteriorated while in Australian custody and is likely to further deteriorate.
He referred to reports by a Jewish prison visitor who said Leifer had shared with her experiences of nightmares and hallucinations, as she grappled with isolation from her family in Israel.
Hill said Leifer had been given “anti-psychotic” medication for “auditory hallucinations”.
He said despite the efforts of authorities at the Dame Phyllis Frost prison, there were “cruel aspects, harshness” for the only Orthodox Jewish woman currently imprisoned in Victoria.
Leifer has had twice-weekly one-hour visits by her son and daughter in Melbourne but had not seen her other children, her 17 grandchildren and her husband, an Israeli rabbi, since being extradited. She has had visits from a Jewish prison chaplain.
Hill noted that in Israel, Leifer’s imprisonment featured occasional family reunion outings, which have not been possible in Australia.
He said Leifer, in her sentencing, “should be given full benefit” for being acquitted of any charges relating to Nicole Meyer.
Hill assured Judge Gamble that upon completing her head sentence, Leifer, who has no Australian visa, has indicated she would voluntarily comply with being deported to Israel, but that scenario raises issues over how any parole might be administered.
The hearing before Judge Gamble continues.
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