Convicted sex offender and former Melbourne headmistress accused of sexual assault in prison

News.com.au

a day ago

The former headmistress of a Melbourne school who raped her students has allegedly sexually assaulted a much younger woman inside Melbourne's maximum security women's prison.
Malka Leifer, 58, previously ruled over the ultra-orthodox Addas Israel School in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick before she was jailed for 15 years for repeated sexual abuse against students in her care.
The convicted predator sexually abused sisters Nicole Meyer, Elly Sapper and Dassi Erlich on campus, in a school office, in her home and on school camps. The dual Israeli-Australian citizen fled to Israel and remained there from 2008 until 2021 before she was extradited to Melbourne to face justice.
News.com.au earlier this year exclusively revealed that Leifer had kissed the troubled conwoman Samantha Azzopardi while locked up together inside the protection unit at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
Azzopardi is best known for dressing up and posing as a vulnerable 'schoolgirl' to get money from her victims.
News.com.au can now reveal that Leifer has been sent to solitary confinement at the facility in Melbourne's north over an alleged incident involving a younger inmate — one that sources say happened in full view of 'CCTV cameras'.
The incident allegedly occurred in late July inside the Murray Unit where inmates are segregated for their own protection.
A source with knowledge of the incident told news.com.au the alleged victim was 'a young woman who was only recently moved to (protection) from the compound'.
'There was camera footage of it in the hallway of the Murray Unit,' the source said.
The alleged victim is believed to be a 'young Koori girl' — an Aboriginal inmate in her 20s.
Leifer, who is a mother of eight children and is 'disliked' in prison because she is 'arrogant and entitled', is now confined to a tiny cell for 23 hours a day where she cannot mix with other inmates.
Her only taste of freedom each day will include a 20-minute visit to the airing yard or a trip to the loungeroom where the TV does not work.
The added perks she has been accustomed to in prison, including a mircrowave and cooking equipment in her room, did not travel with her to an area of the prison referred to colloquially as 'the slot'.
The Department of Justice and Victoria Police were approached for comment.
A Department of Justice spokesperson said they cannot comment on individual prisoners but 'all allegations of sexual assault or violence in Victorian prisons are referred to Victoria Police for investigation'.
Leifer's new life inside solitary confinement will be much different to her previous living conditions.
News.com.au last month reported that the solitary confinement unit is subject to almost daily lockdowns, some of which mean inmates there spend 24 hours a day inside their cells.
A former inmate who spoke to news.com.au about conditions in solitary confinement at the Melbourne prison said there are 'code black' events 'nearly every day' — a code black being a self-harm incident or an attempted suicide.
'The amount of times that medical would be called for a code black is unbelievable,' they said.
A different former inmate, who spent time with Leifer inside the protection unit before being released in March, told news.com.au Leifer was 'a loner' who 'used to sit in her room a lot'.
Then Azzopardi, 36, came along, and that changed.
When Azzopardi entered prison, the inmate says, the pair began spending a lot of time together.
'(Azzopardi) acts young. That's the type of girl Malka likes,' they said.
'How f***ing wild is this. Her best friend in there is the one and only Malka Leifer. (Azzopardi) allowed Malka to kiss her on one occasion on the lips. Very strange stuff.'
Leifer's victims said the details of Leifer's alleged relationship with Azzopardi was deeply concerning.
'I just hope the community or members of her family have a deep hard think about reading these stories and maybe, just maybe, start to believe that Malka Leifer did actually abuse us,' Nicole told news.com.au.
Elly said it proved Leifer would never change.
'I guess part of me always wanted to believe there was some remorse, some understanding of her wrongdoing. Obviously that belief has diminished now, but mostly, I feel defeated and helpless at the knowledge there will be many other young vulnerable girls in the future that she will groom and take advantage of.'
Leifer's barrister, Ian Hill KC, told a Melbourne court in 2023, prior to her sentencing, that she was 'truly lonely' and 'broken' in prison.
'Leifer was a respected educator, administrator and community member and indeed community leader,' Mr Hill said.
'Today, all these years later, she is a truly lonely, isolated and broken woman held in protective custody in a maximum security prison far from her culture, far from her religion and, significantly, far from her family.
'Publicly she has been disgraced and it can be said fairly that she is suffering worldwide as a result of the publicity that her trial seems to have attracted.'
Leifer's victims were made aware of the new allegations against her over the weekend.
In a message to news.com.au, one of her victims wrote: 'She has a pattern, it doesn't stop just because she is in prison.'
A documentary titled Surviving Malka Leifer will premiere this week at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Directed by Adam Kamien, the film will delve into her victims' youth and their brave campaign to hold Leifer accountable.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu will make appearances in the film.