Judge who made 'keep your knees together' comment at rape trial resigns
A judge in Canada has resigned following a recommendation from a judicial council that he be removed, CBC News reported.
The Washington Post reported that Federal Court Justice Robin Camp came under fire in 2014 when he asked a woman, who was the accuser in a rape case, "Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?"
The Canadian Judicial Council said in a Thursday ruling that Camp "showed obvious disdain for some of the characteristics of the regime enacted by Parliament in respect of sexual assault issues" in the trial.
CNN reported that the complainant, who was 19 at the time, was told by Camp that "sex and pain sometimes go together ... that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Camp was a provincial court judge at the time. In 2015, he became a federal judge.
Alexander Wagar, 29, was accused of raping the woman at a house party. Camp told the victim she could have avoided the attack had she turned away, The Washington Post reported.
The Canadian Press reported that Camp acquitted Wagar in 2014 but the ruling was overturned by an appeals court and a new trial was ordered. In January, Judge Gerry LeGrandeur, who was over the retrial, acquitted Wagar because he had reasonable doubt about the assault.
The CJC made a majority ruling for Camp's removal, saying his statements in the 2014 trial and the decision "are so antithetical to the contemporary values of our judicial system with respect to the manner in which complainants in sexual assault cases should be treated that, in our view, confidence in the system cannot be maintained unless the system disassociates itself from the image which the judge, by his statements and approach, represents in the mind of a reasonable member of the public."
CNN reported that four out of the 23 judges on the council voted against the motion to remove Camp and said "a sanction short of removal is the most effective and just outcome."
Camp said in a statement from his lawyer that he intended to resign.
"I have advised Chief Justice Crampton that effective March 10, 2017, I will resign as a member of the Federal Court of Canada.
I would like to express my sincere apology to everyone who was hurt by my comments during the (sexual assault) trial. I thank everyone who was generous and kind to me and my family in the last 15 months, particularly my legal team."
