Judge Who Asked Rape Victim Why She Didn’t Keep Her Knees Together Resigns


A Canadian federal judge has been under fire after asking a rape victim why she didn’t keep her knees together during the assault.

CNN reports the Canadian federal judge resigned on Thursday after the disciplinary council met and recommended that he be fired. Judge Robin Camp, the federal judge in question, made the decision to quit before Canada’s Parliament had a chance to act on the recommendation to fire him for asking a rape victim such an inappropriate question.

Canadian federal judge resigns [Image by Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock]

The Canadian federal judge claimed “unconscious bias” was the reason he asked a rape victim why she didn’t keep her knees closed, according to CNN. Asking the 19-year-old rape victim why she didn’t keep her knees together to stop her attacker was not the only offensive question the judge asked either. He also asked her why she didn’t “skew her pelvis” in order to prevent her attacker from being able to penetrate her.

Judge Camp apologized to the victim and claimed he was remorseful for the questions that he had asked. He believed apologizing showed that he would be amenable with rehabilitations. The Canadian Judicial Council disagreed, which resulted in the recommendation to remove the judge from the bench for asking the rape victim why she didn’t keep her knees closed.

The official statement the council made in their report can be read below.

“We find that the judge’s conduct, viewed in its totality and in light of all of its consequences, was so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that public confidence is sufficiently undermined to render the judge incapable of executing the judicial office.”

The Trial

Camp was a provincial court judge for a rape case in 2014 when he originally asked the rape victim why she didn’t keep her knees closed to prevent the attack from happening. It was not until a year later that he became a federal judge. During the trial, the judge claimed that sometimes sex and pain just go together.

“Some sex and pain sometimes go together… that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

After the federal Canadian judge made the decision to acquit the man accused of raping the 19-year-old, he proceeded to offer him some advice.

“I want you to tell your friends, your male friends, that they have to be far more gentle with women. They have to be far more patient. And they have to be very careful. To protect themselves, they have to be very careful.”

The comments the federal judge made during this case only came to light after the Alberta Court of Appeal made the decision to overturn his acquittal. The accused man did end up being found guilty a second time. Judge Camp claimed that decision only supported his ruling to give the accused man a second chance.

Federal Judge Camp resigns [Image by Billion Photos/ShutterStock]

Just four of the 23 judges on the Canadian Judicial Council voted not to remove Camp from the bench for asking the rape victim why she didn’t just keep her knees closed. Before the council could act on the vote, Judge Camp announced his resignation as a federal judge. In his resignation statement, he apologized to everyone he may have hurt with the comments he made during that trial.

“I thank everyone who was generous and kind to me and my family in the last 15 months, particularly my legal team. I will not be answering media inquiries today.”

What are your thoughts on the comments this federal judge made? Do you think he should have gotten into some kind of trouble for asking a rape victim why she didn’t keep her knees together? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Billion Photos/Shutterstock]

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