Judge cited for ‘demeaning’ conduct in rape case

A senior Victorian judge who made “pejorative, demeaning and incongruous” remarks about an alleged rape victim should be “counselled” on the need to exercise sensitivity, according to the Victorian Judicial Commission.

The judicial watchdog said on Monday that Judge Geoffrey Chettle of the County Court had “infringed the standards of conduct generally expected of judicial officers” in a pre-trial hearing in February 2023.