Canadian Judge Who Told Rape Victim to "Keep Her Knees Shut" Resigns

Robin Camp, a Canadian judge who, during a sexual assault case back in 2014 asked the rape victim “why couldn’t [she] just keep [her] knees together”, resigned Thursday. Camp asked the victim why she didn’t “sink [her] bottom down into the basin so [the perpetrator] couldn’t penetrate [her]” and said that “young wom[e]n want to have sex, particularly if they're drunk,” according to The Huffington Post. 

Camp faced an investigation from the Canadian Judicial Council after a group of academics filed a complaint on Camp’s comments, according to The Washington Post. 

On Thursday, the council released a rather scathing report calling for Camp to be removed from his position. The report called his actions “manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence.” The council also wrote that “public confidence is sufficiently undermined to render the judge incapable of executing the judicial office.”

Just hours after the report's release, Camp resigned from his position, The Post reports. According to the BBC, Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who accepted Camp’s resignation, believes that Camp “received due process.” In a statement, Camp apologized for any hurt that his comments may have caused.

During the investigation, Camp argued that his comments stemmed from a "bias that all women behave in the same way and should resist,” according to CBC News. He had admitted his misbehavior, but told the council that he thought he should be able to keep his position, especially since he had “spent months educating himself on Canada’s sexual assault laws, speaking with feminist scholars and seeking sensitivity training,” The Post reports.

According to CNN, only four of the twenty-three on the Canadian Judicial Council voted against removing Camp from the bench, saying that based on his “remorse and efforts to seek rehabilitation,” Camp should receive a “sanction short of removal.”

In the end, the council was not convinced of Camp’s remorse and efforts to correct the misconduct. But Camp resigned before Canada’s Parliament could do anything regarding the council’s recommendation.