The Australian judiciary Monday convicted the former principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Australia on charges of raping a minor and sexually assaulting two sisters, 15 years after she fled to Israel.

Malka Lever was convicted of 18 counts, including the rape of a schoolgirl at her home and the sexual assault of another during a school trip, while she was teaching religious education at the "Adas Israel School", which she also ran in Melbourne in southeastern Australia.
Lever was acquitted of nine other charges.

Lever, who has always maintained her innocence, was present during the sentencing.

The indictment said Lever raped a schoolgirl after telling her to "sleep in her home for lessons" on premarital etiquette.

Lever was telling the students that she was preparing them to become wives, according to Attorney General Justin Lewis.

"It will help you on your wedding night," Lever was quoted as saying to a schoolgirl after he sexually assaulted her.

Lever, a 50-year-old mother of eight, fled to Israel after a lawsuit was filed against her in 2008 and settled with her family in the Emmanuel settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The Australian authorities requested her extradition in 2014.

It arrived in Melbourne at the end of January 2021 after six years of legal battle in Israel to determine whether the defendant was feigning mental illness to avoid trial.

Lever's defense attorney, Ian Hill, confirmed her denial that she had committed "any criminal conduct alleged by the plaintiffs", saying her interactions with the students were "professional and appropriate".