Last year, a Canadian judge named Robin Camp presided over a sexual assault case in Alberta, Canada. The allged victim was a 19-year-old homeless woman accusing a man f sexually assaulting her in a bathroom at a house party. The man, who weighed 100 pounds more than the 9-year old, was acquitted by Judge Camp, but not before he humiliated the woman in court, and CTV News reports that he’s now being investigated for the comments.
At the trial, Camp was quoted to have asked demeaning questions like “Why didn’t you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn’t penetrate you?” and “Why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?” And that wasn’t all: He also told her that “sex and pain sometimes go together [and] that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” He also openly made fun of Canada’s consent laws (which require that both parties make sure the other is consenting) and according to CBC News, he asked prosecutors, “Well can you show me one of these places it says that there’s a some kind of incantation that has to be gone through? Because it’s not the way of the birds and the bees.”
Since the trial, he was promoted to the Federal Court of Canada, but that status may now be in jeopardy. The Alberta Court of Appeals ordered a new trial because they think Camp may have “misapprehended the evidence” and lacked an adequate understanding of sexual assault laws. “Sexual stereotypes and stereotypical myths, which have long since been discredited, may have found their way into the trial judge’s judgment,” the court said. According to the Calgary Herald, the Canadian Judicial Council has received around 500 letters complaining about Camp, and he has been placed under judicial review. He could face anything from a reprimand to outright dismissal, though only Parliament can remove a judge from the bench. For now, Camp cannot handle any case that has to do with sexual conduct.
“I have come to recognize that things that I said and attitudes I displayed during the trial of this matter, and in my decision, caused deep and significant pain to many people,” he said in a statement. 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.”