Israeli authorities have extradited a woman to Australia this week where she faces 74 charges of rape and child sexual abuse. Malka Leifer allegedly committed the crimes while she was the principal at a Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne between 2004 and 2008.
“The victims are absolutely relieved and are ecstatic to achieve their goal,” said Manny Waks, CEO of VoiCSA, an Israel-based organization dedicated to combating child sexual abuse in the global Jewish community, which working with Leifer’s victims, told CBS News. “But let’s not forget that this is just the beginning. Now they’re really starting their business in Australia.”
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Leifer fought against her extradition for six years. The 54-year-old’s defense team claims she was not healthy enough to endure a trial. But last year, an expert panel of Israeli psychiatrists determined that Leifer was lying, which caused her extradition.
Leifer’s long legal battle included more than 70 court hearings Wax. But on Monday, local media showed her on a plane at Ben Gurion airport in Israel.
“Her extradition sends a strong message of hope and encouragement to survivors around the world,” said Shana Aaronson, executive director of Magen for Jewish Communities, an Israeli organization that monitors American pedophiles and works to bring them to justice. CBS News said. “I think it’s so important that other victims see it and are motivated and inspired to fight for their own rights and justice.”
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Israel has become a refuge for Jewish sex offenders around the world. A CBS News investigates last year found that the problem is widespread. It can be difficult to bring the wanted men and women to justice because they often use a process called Law of Return, whereby any Jewish person can move to Israel and automatically obtain citizenship.
Since Aaronson began locating accused pedophiles, she says more than 60 of the United States have fled to Israel. She says that because her organization is small and has limited resources, the actual number is probably much larger.
“The same thing that is going on in the Catholic Church around the world right now is exactly the same thing happening in our (Jewish) community,” said Meyer Seewald, founder of Jewish Community Watch (JCW), an American organization that follows in its footsteps. pedophiles, CBS News said during our investigation. “The cover-up is the same, the stigma, the shame.”
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CBS News was there when JCW helped track down convicted pedophile Jimmy Julius Karow in Israel. He fled the United States after being accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in Oregon. While in Israel, he continued his abuse and was convicted of child abuse in 2002. We were there when JCW confronted him with the Israeli police. In September, he pleaded guilty in an Israeli court and was convicted in other cases on various charges of rape, sodomy and indecent acts.
Karow is awaiting sentencing.
Months after the investigation aired, Israel changed its procedures to require all Americans who immigrate to the country to undergo an FBI background check.
But activists like Aaronson, Waks and Seewald all say there is an endemic problem that helps these perpetrators get help within their communities to flee and then evade justice.
“There was a mechanism behind this campaign to prevent Malka Leifer from ever being extradited to Australia,” says Waks. “What we saw in her case is that many senior Rabbis are going to bat for her.”
Aaronson says a lot of hard questions need to be asked now to make sure it never happens again.
“How could she manipulate the court system by claiming mental illness? Has anyone in a government role played a role in protecting her and, if so, what kind of transparency and supervision is needed to ensure that such a thing can never happen again? not? “she told CBS News. “What can be done to streamline this process so that victims are not expected to wait so many years simply for the opportunity to face their abuse and put this difficult chapter behind them?”