Canadian judge facing ouster asked rape victim: 'Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?'

The Canadian Judicial Council is holding a week-long hearing to decide the fate of Federal Court Judge Robin Camp, and one case in particular is garnering a lot of attention. In 2014, when he was still a provincial judge, Camp heard a case in which a 19-year-old woman said she was raped at a house party. During the trial, Camp asked the woman, "Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?" He also opined: "Some sex and pain sometimes go together... that's not necessarily a bad thing."

Camp also addressed the alleged rapist, telling him — before acquitting him — 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."

Camp's verdict was overturned and the case is scheduled for a new hearing in November. Camp, born in South Africa, apologized to the woman for his "rude and insulting" comments, and said in his defense that he never received sexual assault training and has mostly heard contract and bankruptcy cases. "My colleagues knew my knowledge of Canadian law was very minimal — it was non-existent," he said Friday. "Please remember I wasn't in this country through the 1960s, '70s, and '80s."

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