Judge says sexual assault victim may’ve been ‘flattered’ by interest

A judge has come under fire after he suggested a 17-year-old girl who said she was sexually assault was probably a little "flattered" by the attention.

Judge Jean-Paul Braun heard the allegations of sexual assault against taxi driver, Carlo Figaro, in May 2017. According to The Journal de Montréal, Figaro was accused of forcefully trying to kiss the girl, licking her face and groping her after she boarded his taxi in the summer of 2015. The 17-year-old was able to push Figaro away and get out of the vehicle. Judge Braun, whose comments came to light earlier this week, brought up the girl's appearance in response to the allegations. The judge said:

“She’s a young girl, 17. Maybe she’s a little overweight but she has a pretty face, no?”

He cited the young woman's religious upbringing as he said that she might have enjoyed the attention from 49-year-old Figaro, who, the judge said, "looks good and doesn’t seem his age." He added:

"She was a bit flattered. Maybe it was the first time he showed interest in her."

The judge further said that trying to kiss someone may be okay, but a different kind of consent would be needed for anything more. He said:

“A man is interested in her, he tries to kiss her. Surely the same consent isn’t required to try to kiss someone as for – as we say – putting one’s hand in the basket.”

('Putting one's hand in the basket' is a French expression that means grabbing someone's behind.) The judge found Figaro guilty of sexually assaulting the teenager. Braun said that he found the man's claims he had never noticed the girl before hard to believe, citing the fact that Figaro often stopped at the coffee shop that she worked at. The judge added into his ruling, “taking into consideration the [victim’s] figure, which is quite voluptuous; the court specifies that she is a pretty young girl.” Figaro has launched an appeal of the verdict. Quebec's justice minister Stephanie Vallée said that the judge's remarks were "unacceptable", adding that she would be filing a complaint with the judicial court in the province, according to The Guardian.