KEY POSTS
- Sentencing closes 15-year legal fight to bring Leifer to justice
- Leifer sentenced to 15 years behind bars
- Sisters were ‘innocent victims of predatory behaviour’: Judge
- Former Victorian premier attends Leifer sentence
- A timeline of justice delayed
- Judgment day for Malka Leifer
- Welcome to our live coverage
At the conclusion of the first part of his sentencing remarks, Judge Mark Gamble took the time to address sisters Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper, seated in court.
In their evidence the sisters spoke about their guilt, which continues to this day, that they failed to prevent the abuse by Malka Leifer.
Gamble said it was not them that should feel guilty, but their abuser, Leifer.
“They were completely innocent victims of the predatory behaviour of Mrs Leifer, and it is she and she alone who should feel guilty,” the judge said.
In their victim impact statements the sisters outlined how the crimes affected their lives, which the judge spoke about in the sentence.
Dassi Erlich said the abuse left a “significant and enduring impact” on her life, which impacted her ability to trust people. She said she felt shame.
“She feels a sense of shame for having allowed the abuse to occur and for not being able to erase the pain that it continues to cause her despite having undergone the burden of years of therapy,” Gamble told the court.
The judge said Erlich’s statement was a “measured but powerful illustration of the legacy she had been left with as a result of this insidious offending”.
Her sister, Elly Sapper experiences “immense pain which feels all-encompassing”, the court was told.
Sapper felt “guilt, shame and fear” as a result of the abuse and blamed herself.
“She [Sapper] feels a shame for not being able to stop the abuse at the time and for not telling anyone about it sooner.”
Read the report by Caroline Schelle and David Estcourt in The Age.