Second lawsuit against Leifer

FORMER head teacher of Melbourne’s Adass Israel School Malka Leifer is facing a second lawsuit relating to child sex abuse.

Melbourne lawyer Nick Mazzeo confirmed to The AJN this week that his legal firm Lennon Mazzeo will represent the unnamed client, who is believed to be a former student of the ultra-Orthodox Melbourne school.

Meanwhile, Leifer, who was spirited away to Israel in 2008 by the school’s committee following reports about her molesting students, has already had major civil damages awarded against her in a lawsuit by another former Adass student, the current plaintiff’s sister. The names of both plaintiffs have been suppressed.

In Israel, a court case over an Australian application to extradite Leifer to face 74 criminal charges in Victoria is underway, with lawyers for Leifer claiming the mother of eight is too stressed to be extradited.

An Israeli judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Leifer amid accusations she is faking her condition as a stalling tactic.

Full article in the Australian Jewish News