Judge Who Asked Alleged Rape Victim to "Keep Her Knees Together" Wants to Keep His Job

A Canadian judge thinks he should be able to keep his job after asking an alleged rape victim to "keep her knees together."

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A Federal Court judge in Canada believes he should be allowed to keep his job after telling an alleged rape victim to "keep her knees together" during a 2014 trial. Judge Robin Camp is now facing a week-long hearing in Calgary that will determine his fate, the Independentreports. Camp is currently suspended from hearing cases.

In a notice of response obtained by CBC News, Camp revealed plans to offer an apology during the hearing before the Canadian Judicial Council in September. Camp also agreed that his comments, which were directed at a 19-year-old homeless woman during the 2014 rape trial of Alexander Scott Wagar, were "insensitive and inappropriate." Wagar is accused of raping the woman over a sink at a party.

Camp ultimately acquitted Wagar during the 2014 proceedings, though the Court of Appeal in Alberta overturned that decision one year later. According toMic, Wagar was rearrested following the Alberta court's reversal. "The comments were made to her directly in court, not just in the decision," Alice Wooley, a law professor at the University of Calgary, told the Independent at the start of the investigation last year. "Imagine what she felt like in court. She's a 19-year-old homeless woman. It's not a good way to treat somebody."

Camp has since participated in counseling programs at the helm of a superior court judge, a sexual assault law expert, and a psychologist. All three will testify at the week-long hearing, set to begin Sept. 6.

"[Camp] believes his training, counseling, and this process as a whole have left him better equipped to judge cases with the empathy, wisdom and sensitivity to social context to which all judges aspire," the notice of response states. "He now understands that some of his prior thinking was infected with stereotypical beliefs and discredited myths."

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