Israeli rabbi will not supervise Malka Leifer if she's given house arrest
The Guardian
Melissa Davey
12 March 2018
Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman ‘completely withdraws’ from the case of accused child abuser
An Israeli rabbi no longer wants the former Melbourne school principal and accused child abuser Malka Leifer to be released under his supervision while she awaits an extradition outcome.
Victorian police want to bring Leifer, 54, back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse. A previous extradition attempt between 2014 and 2016 failed after Leifer was admitted to mental institutions and experts determined she was not fit to stand trial.
She was released on home detention, with Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman offering to take care of her. Leifer was arrested again on 12 February after an undercover investigation at Interpol’s request. A magistrate’s court then ordered her to be freed from custody into home detention, but prosecutors appealed, arguing she is feigning mental illness. Videos from a private investigator show her living an apparently normal, healthy life despite being declared unfit for extradition.
But while Israel’s supreme court mulls over the prosecution’s appeal of the release decision, Grossman changed his mind.
“Last night I notified the courts that I am completely withdrawing my involvement in the case of Malka Leifer, and my recommendation that she be placed under house arrest with my supervision,” he said on Monday.
Leifer has been ordered to stay in police custody in a medical facility while the supreme court considers the prosecution’s appeal.
Her extradition is the subject of a separate court case.
Manny Waks, an advocate for Kol v’Oz, a Jewish organisation combating child sex abuse, said: “While Rabbi Grossman has finally agreed to withdraw his involvement from the Leifer case, he is yet to publicly apologise to her alleged victims for compounding their pain and suffering as a direct result of his words and actions.
“He is also yet to publicly apologise to the Jewish community for bringing it into disrepute. Once he takes full and unequivocal responsibility for what he has done, we expect him to undergo an education process regarding the issue of child sexual abuse, so that he will be better placed to address such cases in the future.”
Originally published at The Guardian.
An Israeli rabbi no longer wants the former Melbourne school principal and accused child abuser Malka Leifer to be released under his supervision while she awaits an extradition outcome.
Victorian police want to bring Leifer, 54, back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse. A previous extradition attempt between 2014 and 2016 failed after Leifer was admitted to mental institutions and experts determined she was not fit to stand trial.
She was released on home detention, with Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman offering to take care of her. Leifer was arrested again on 12 February after an undercover investigation at Interpol’s request. A magistrate’s court then ordered her to be freed from custody into home detention, but prosecutors appealed, arguing she is feigning mental illness. Videos from a private investigator show her living an apparently normal, healthy life despite being declared unfit for extradition.
But while Israel’s supreme court mulls over the prosecution’s appeal of the release decision, Grossman changed his mind.
“Last night I notified the courts that I am completely withdrawing my involvement in the case of Malka Leifer, and my recommendation that she be placed under house arrest with my supervision,” he said on Monday.
Leifer has been ordered to stay in police custody in a medical facility while the supreme court considers the prosecution’s appeal.
Her extradition is the subject of a separate court case.
Manny Waks, an advocate for Kol v’Oz, a Jewish organisation combating child sex abuse, said: “While Rabbi Grossman has finally agreed to withdraw his involvement from the Leifer case, he is yet to publicly apologise to her alleged victims for compounding their pain and suffering as a direct result of his words and actions.
“He is also yet to publicly apologise to the Jewish community for bringing it into disrepute. Once he takes full and unequivocal responsibility for what he has done, we expect him to undergo an education process regarding the issue of child sexual abuse, so that he will be better placed to address such cases in the future.”
Originally published at The Guardian.
