Melbourne Jewish school principal wanted on 74 charges of child sex abuse arrested in Israel

Malka Leifer, a mother-of-eight, is wanted over 74 allegations of child abuse during her time as head of the Adass Israel School, in Melbourne. Photo / Supplied

The former head of a Melbourne Jewish school accused of sexually abusing pupils before fleeing to Israel has been arrested in the Middle East.

Malka Leifer, who served as principal of the Adass Israel School, has been accused of faking mental illness in order to get out of appearing at extradition hearings, the MailOnline reported.

Leifer, who is a mother-of-eight, now aged in her 50s, is wanted in Victoria on 74 counts of child sexual abuse after she allegedly exploited at least 15 pupils during private lessons.

Adass Israel School has been accused of helping Leifer flee the country in 2008. Photo / Supplied

She was first accused back in 2008 but fled Australia in the middle of the night with her family, amid allegations the school helped fund her journey.

In 2014 she was arrested for the first time in Israel after Australia filed an extradition request, and subsequently released on bail.

Doctors stopped those proceedings in 2016, saying that she was unfit to stand trial because she was suffering from panic attacks and was unfit to attend court, the Times Of Israel reports.

Over the next six months further exams confirmed the attacks were genuine.

But last month police began investigating at the request of Interpol, and she was arrested for a second time on Monday at the West Bank settlement of Emmanuel.

A statement issued at the time of the arrest said: "During 2017 there were indications that the suspect was pretending to be suffering from a mental illness in order to avoid the extradition process.

"As a result, the police again opened an investigation that led to her arrest this morning."

In 2015, former student Dassi Erlich, now 30, brought a civil case against the school – which was ordered to pay her A$1,024,428 in damages.

In court Erlich told how she was abused during private religious lessons, starting when she was 15, in which she accused Leifer of rubbing her thighs up against her.

Over the course of three years the abuse escalated and she was sexually touched and digitally penetrated, Erlich said.

She left Australia for Israel after getting married aged 18 to a man her parents chose for her, and opened up about the alleged abuse in meetings with a therapist.

The therapist passed the information along to a colleague in Melbourne's Adass community before they reached the school.

In March 2008, a meeting was held about the eight separate allegations against Liefer, attended by the school board president Yitzhok Benedict, board member Meir Ernst, barrister Norman Rosenbaum, psychologist Vicki Gordon and Bromberg.

The group spoke to Liefer, who denied the allegations against her, and told her she would be removed from her position.

But shockingly, instead of reporting the allegations to the police, they decided to help Liefer flee the country.

The school reportedly paid for a flight to Israel for Liefer, who left the country in the middle of the night, just hours after that conversation.

Supreme Court Judge Jack Rush called the actions of that night "deplorable".

But school board president Benedikt insists the decision was the right one – and done with the intention of ensuring Liefer was kept away from the school's children.