A 10-year legal battle to extradite an accused child abuser from Israel back to Australia to face charges is making progress: Malka Leifer is finally in jail. The question is how long she will remain there…

The Orthodox mother of 8—who claims to be innocent—has used every legal trick in the book to avoid prosecution, asking for countless delays, faking mental illness, and exaggerating physical illnesses. These tactics have kept her walking the streets and possibly committing more crimes as the wheels of justice turn ever so slowly. 

Her many victims, who are also her former students, say that she molested them repeatedly, using her position as Principal of an all-girls Jewish school as the “perfect cover.” The most outspoken victim, Dassi Erlich, has given extensive interviews, begging the public for help. Calling her campaign “Bring Back Leifer,” Dassi is understandably confused and angry that this case is still unresolved after a decade. High profile publicity in Australia and Israel have caused an outcry for justice that’s gone all the way up; the Prime Ministers of both countries have gotten personally involved. 

As we’ve seen in other abuse cases, the victims have been smeared, lied about, and shamed. Dassi has taken the bulk of it, because she made the initial claim. Her courage to come forward allowed other ladies, including her own sisters, to admit it had also happened to them. (How unbearably heartbreaking is that?)

Anytime a community is isolated, abuse seems to flourish. In this case, it’s a Jewish group in Melbourne, Australia, but it could easily be the FLDS in Utah, or the Branch Davidians in Waco. Religious extremism, regardless of belief, seems to be plagued with abuse almost universally. Secular authorities and courts, left in the dark for far too long and afraid to infringe on individual rights, rarely intervene, and when they do, it’s extremely difficult to prove the charges. 

There are many theories in the greater Jewish community about the Leifer case and why it’s been dragging on endlessly. The most startling to me is that a lot of people flat-out refuse to believe that a woman can be a sexual predator, especially a seemingly devout woman. 

While it’s rare for a woman to be a molester, it does happen and victims need to be given the benefit of the doubt. Personally, I think it’s even worse than when a man does it, because the level of sociopathy is that much greater and they are even more dangerous to the public.

There is no legitimate reason not to extradite Mrs. Leifer back to Australia for trial. She isn’t crazy, she’s just wicked and if this ever goes to trial, the evidence will prove it.