- Jean-Paul Braun made the remarks during taxi driver Carl Figaro’s May trial
- He said Figaro’s teenage victim was ‘voluptuous’ and suggested she enjoyed his attention
- The 49-year-old taxi driver licked the girl’s face then forcibly touched her genitals and breasts over her clothes
- She had agreed to give him her phone number because she said she was afraid of him
- Braun convicted Figaro but is facing backlash over his comments towards the victim
Canadian judge Jean-Paul Braun made the comments in May while presiding over a sexual assault case
A Canadian judge has sparked outrage by saying a 17-year-old sexual assault victim was ‘overweight but had a pretty face’ and may have been ‘flattered’ by her attacker’s attention.
Judge Jean-Paul Braun made the remarks in May during the case of taxi driver Carl Figaro, 49, who he found guilty of sexual assaulting the girl in his car after taking her home in Quebec.
Figaro forced himself on her and licked her face then felt her breasts and genitals over her clothes before forcibly unbuttoning her shirt. She then escaped into her home.
Braun found him guilty of sexual assault but shockingly referred to the girl’s appearance and suggested she had enjoyed the attention of an older man who the judge deemed handsome.
He also argued there are varying levels of consent dependant on different sexual interactions and that the same permission was not needed to kiss someone as it was to touch someone’s rear.
Figaro will return to court in November to face sentencing but the judge’s comments have gained criticism in the meantime.
Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée deemed them ‘unacceptable’ this week and vowed to file a complaint with Quebec’s magistrate council, CBC reports.
In May, Braun shared his belief that the victim was ‘flattered’ by the attack because he deduced it might have been the ‘first time she’d been given attention’.
He called her ‘voluptuous’ and said she was ‘a bit overweight’.
Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée (pictured) has vowed to file a complaint with Quebec’s magistrate council
Braun also said that it was ‘acceptable’ for the taxi driver to try to kiss the girl but not to force himself on her in any other way.
During the trial, the unidentified victim explained that she agreed to give the driver her phone number because she was frightened he would attack her or lock the doors if she didn’t.
The driver previously hung around outside the cafe where she worked but he denied premeditating the attack.
Bizarrely, Judge Braun noted during the proceedings that Figaro was what he deemed a handsome man who took care of his appearance.
He remarked that he wore designer cologne on the weekends and cheaper versions during the week.
Quebec’s magistrate council has not commented on whether it is investigating Braun.
Braun previously drew ire in 2013 when he remarked in the case of an engineer accused of harassing and groping a 19-year-old female colleague that it was not ‘the crime of the century’.