Appeal filed over Dewar sex-assault decision

Manitoba Justice has launched a formal appeal of thesentence handed to a man by Justice Robert Dewar on the belief the judge blamed the victim's conduct in coming to his decision.

Dewar ignited a firestorm of protest due to comments he made in his Feb. 18 decision where he said "sex was in the air" when he sentenced Kenneth Rhodes to a two-year conditional sentence to be served in the community.

The Crown was asking for a three-year prison term for Rhodes, and is asking for the Manitoba Court of Appeal to overturn the conditional sentence handed down by the Court of Queen's Bench judge.

"The Court of Appeal will be asked to impose a fit sentence," Crown attorney Mike Mahon stated in documents filed late Wednesday.

Dewar also commented on the way the woman was dressed and her actions the night she was forced to have sex by a man in the woods along a dark highway outside Thompson, Man., in 2006.

Prosecutors state in appeal documents that they believe Dewar's comments about the victim were out of bounds.

"[Dewar] erred in finding the actions of the complainant mitigated the moral culpability of [Rhodes]," the appeal states.

Complaints about Dewar are under review by the Canadian Judicial Council. Dewar is currently not hearing cases of a sexual nature.

No date to hear the appeal has been set, and lawyers for Rhodes have not yet responded.

The case becomes the second Dewar decision in a sexual assault case currently under review by the court of appeal.

The other case involves a man acquitted of charges that he allegedly molested teen girl.

The Crown believes Dewar engaged in speculation when electing to stay the charges after a 2010 trial.