'Couldn't You Just Keep your Knees Together?'
> Canadian Federal Court Judge Under Review for Berating Alleged Teenage Sex Assault Victim
- Judge Robin Camp is accused of the 'sexist and disrespectful' treatment of a sex assault complainant
- During the case he asked the alleged victim 'why she allowed the sex to happen if she didn't want it?'
- He also questioned the 19-year-old homeless complainant 'Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?'
- Camp also inferred that she should have taken more care to stay safe as she knew she was drinking
- A review has been launched into his conduct during a 2014 case in which he acquitted Alexander Scott of rape
- Four law professors complained he had a 'contemptuous' disregard for sexual assault law
Daily Mail UK, 10 November 2015
Judge Robin Camp (pictured) sparked outrage when he asked an alleged sexual assault victim why she 'couldn't just keep her knees together?'
A federal judge who sparked outrage after he asked an alleged sexual assault victim why she 'couldn't just keep her knees together?', is being investigated.
A review has been launched into Robin Camp's conduct after four law professors at Dalhousie University and the University of Calgary accused him of being 'sexist and disrespectful' towards the teenage complainant.
Camp, then a Calgary provincial court judge, had acquitted Alexander Scott of sexual assault in September 2014 - a decision which was later overturned by Alberta Court of Appeal.
The 19-year-old sex assault complainant had claimed she had been at a house party when Scott entered the bathroom, locked the door behind him, and bent her over the sink before sexually assaulted her.
But Camp - who is now a federal judge - had demanded to know 'why she allowed the sex to happen if she didn't want it?'
'Why didn't you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn't penetrate you,' he asked the vulnerable homeless woman.
'Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?'
He had also noted that the alleged victim had asked Scott if he had a condom - a question which he perceived to have 'an inescapable conclusion [that] if you have one I'm happy to have sex with you'.
Now a complaint has been received by the Canadian Judicial Council which also alleged that the judge had a 'dismissive, if not contemptuous' disregard for sexual assault law.
The law professors who submitted the 11-page letter suggested that Camp had an old-fashioned attitude towards rape and sexual assault which placed blame on the victim, reported CBC
At one point he said that the young woman should have been more careful as she was drinking.
Robin Camp, then a provincial court judge in Calgary (pictured), acquitted Alexander Scott of sexual assault in September 2014 - a decision which was later overturned by Alberta Court of Appeal
'She knew she was drunk…Is not an onus on her to be more careful?'
He also questioned why she did not make more of an effort to escape when her alleged attacker locked her in the bathroom with him.
'If you were…frightened you could have screamed,' he told her.
'She certainly had the ability, perhaps learnt from her experience on the streets, to tell [him] to f*** off,' he added.
Why didn't you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn't penetrate you?
The complaint said that the judge's own stereotypical generalizations of gender were apparent throughout the trial, such as when he made a comment about men 'reacting' to 'challenges' that women gave them.
'Sex is very often a challenge' he had said.
'The legal rules that Justice Camp took issue with were those aimed at removing from the law outdated and discredited stereotypes about women and sexual violence,' the academics complained.
'Indeed, the entire proceeding is threaded through with statements and questions by Justice Camp based on harmful stereotypes about women and sexual assault.'
The judge also made derisory comments about the complainant, who he repeatedly referred to as 'the accused' during the trial - even after being corrected by the Crown.
Now a review has been launched into Camp's conduct during the case after four law professors at Dalhousie University and the University of Calgary accused him of 'sexist and disrespectful treatment of the complainant' (pictured are professors Alice Woolley (top) and Jennifer Koshan)
The law professors (top is Jocelyn Downie, and Elaine Craig) suggested that Camp had an old-fashioned attitude towards rape and sexual assault which placed blame on the victim
He stated that 'certainly the complainant and the accused are amoral people' and that 'the complainant and the accused's morality, their sense of values, leaves a lot to be desired.'
The Canadian Judicial Council, chaired by the chief justice Beverley McLachlin, is now reviewing the conduct of the judge who is said to be complying fully with the investigation.
If the review finds that Camp's conduct was at fault, they can order him to go to counselling, set up a review panel for a public inquiry or recommend he is removed from his position.
It can also move to dismiss the complaint.
Law professors Elaine Craig, Jocelyn Downie, Jennifer Koshan and Alice Woolley, warned in the complaint that his conduct 'undermines public confidence in the fair administration of justice.
Camp has since apologized for causing 'deep and significant pain' to the complainant.
He also said he was 'truly sorry' to women that he may have dissuaded from reporting sexual abuse.
'I am speaking particularly to those who hesitate to come forward to report abuse of any kind and who are reluctant to give evidence about abuse, sexual or otherwise,' he said in a statement released through the courts.
'To the extent that what I have said discourages any person from reporting abuse, or from testifying about it, I am truly sorry. I will do all in my power to learn from this and to never repeat these mistakes.'
The Canadian Judicial Council, chaired by the chief justice Beverley McLachlin (pictured) is now reviewing the conduct of the judge who is said to be complying fully with the investigation
Camp, who was appointed to the Federal Court by former Conservative justice minister Peter MacKay in June, has been removed from ruling over sexual assault cases until the investigation is completed.
The Federal Court has since issued a statement on their website which says that is welcomes the review into Camp's behaviour.
'In the meantime, no new cases will be assigned to Justice Camp that involve issues of sexual conduct or any matter that would raise comparable issues. As well, Justice Camp has agreed to recuse himself from any such cases currently assigned to him.
'Furthermore, Justice Camp has volunteered to undertake a program of gender sensitivity counseling at his own expense and on his own time in order to understand more fully the implications and significance of his comments before the Provincial Court of Alberta, and he will ensure that he does not make similar comments in the future.'
Alberta's Court of Appeal has now ordered a new trial for alleged sex offender Alexander Scott Wagar who was acquitted in the 2014 case.
Judge Tells Girl Sex Assault Victim> 'Keep Your Knees Together'
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