Isolated and lonely, she chooses to remain in a cell, locked from the inside, in protective custody at Melbourne’s high profile women’s prison, the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
Her victims, sisters Elly Sapper and Dassi Erlich, have battled darkness as a result of the insidious trauma inflicted upon them by Leifer.
They refuse to be broken.
Leifer, a 56-year-old mother of eight, was convicted in April of 18 charges including rape, indecent assault and sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17 over the abuse of Sapper and Erlich when they were students at the Adass Israel School between 2003 and 2007.
Leifer was acquitted of nine charges, including five against Meyer.
The sisters sat in court as Leifer’s barrister Ian Hill KC detailed the impact of prison on Leifer.
A former colleague at the Adass Israel School, Malky Fixler, provided a reference in support of Leifer.
“She observed Mrs Leifer to now be angry and agitated – that she had gone from being an upbeat and inspiring educator to an isolated, depressed shadow of her former self,” Hill said during a pre-sentence hearing.
She is medicated for anxiety and depression, Hill said.
“She’s lonely and without family and support and it is clear that it’s having an effect on her mental health,” he said.
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Leifer’s husband, eight children and 17 grandchildren all live overseas.
Earlier, Judge Mark Gamble was told Leifer was the first person who told Sapper that she was loved – something she yearned for.
“Faced with the painful truth that her love wasn’t real was a betrayal of such magnitude it left me broken,” Sapper said.
Erlich told Leifer her darkness would not define her.
“Instead I choose to focus on the light,” she said.
“I am resilient, I am powerful and I am so much more than the limitations you chose to impose on me.”
The County Court hearing is set to continue on Thursday.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028