Director Roman Polanski arrested in Switzerland on 1978 warrant for having sex with 13-year-old girl
By Helen Kennedy
Daily News Staff Writer
Updated Sunday, September 27th 2009, 2:33 PM

Director Roman Polanski's three decades as a fugitive from U.S. rape charges finally ended Sunday when he was arrested upon landing in Switzerland to accept a lifetime achievement award.

The 76-year-old director of "Chinatown," "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Pianist," whose pregnant wife Sharon Tate was butchered in their home by Charles Manson's cult followers in 1969, was one of the world's most famous fugitives.

He was arrested without incident at the Zurich airport and was being held for extradition to California, police said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said prosecutors drew up a warrant learning last week that Polanski planned to show up at the Zurich Film Festival, where he would not be protected from arrest.

Polanski fled to Europe in 1978 after he was convicted in California of raping a 13-year-old girl he had lured to the Hollywood Hills home of actor Jack Nicholson for a photo shoot.

Samantha Geimer testified that Polanski, then 44, gave her quaaludes and champagne before having sex with her and sodomizing her.

Geimer, who long ago went public about what happened, has asked prosecutors to drop the charges, saying she believes Polanski has paid for his crimes with his 30 years in exile.

"I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society," she said in June 2008.

She also agrees with Polanski supporters that he got a raw deal from the showboating judge, the late Laurence Rittenband.

"The judge was enjoying the publicity. He didn't care about what happened to me and he didn't care what happened to Polanski," Geimer said in last year's HBO documentary, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired."

At the time of the court case, both the defense and prosecution appeared to agree that probation would be sufficient punishment. Polanski had agreed to plead guilty to a charge of unlawful sex with a minor.

But the judge, who kept a scrapbook of clippings and was openly reveling in the media frenzy, told people he meant to put Polanski behind bars, according to the documentary.

Polanski asked the authorities to throw out the entire case last December based on the revelations in the HBO film.

Rapists in California go to prison for a maximum of eight years, so even if Rittenband had thrown the book at Polanski, he would have been out by 1986.

There is a 10-year statute of limitations on rape charges, but it was suspended when Polanski fled.

In 2003, Polanski won a best director Oscar for "The Pianist" but did not attend the ceremony in California for fear of arrest. Actor Harrison Ford finally gave him the statue six months later at the Deauville film festival in France.

For the last 30 years, Polanski has rarely left France, which protects its citizens from extradition to the United States.

In America, Polanski is largely seen a child rapist who fled justice, but he is a cultural icon in France, where many feel he was persecuted for having sex with a girl who admitted it was not her first time.

French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said he was "stunned" by the arrest, adding that he "profoundly regrets that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already known so many during his life."

A Polish Jew born in Paris whose mother died at Auschwitz, Polanski was riding high on the success of "Rosemary's Baby" in 1969 when Tate, 8-months pregnant with their first son, was slaughtered by the Manson family. Just last Thursday, Susan Atkins, who stabbed Tate as she begged for her life, died in prison of brain cancer.

Polanski embarked on a rootless life of debauchery after the slaying, including affairs with younger and younger women, including the 15-year-old German actress Nastassja Kinski, whom he cast in "Tess."

He calmed down in recent years, marrying French actress Emmanuelle Seigner, now 43, in 1989. They have two young children, daughter Morgane and son Elvis.

The Zurich Film Festival indefinitely postponed the presentation of Polanski's lifetime achievement award, but planned to go ahead with Sunday evening's retrospective of the director's work.

Swiss authorities said Polanski could appeal any extradition order, which could draw the process out.

California authorities said he could be back in Hollywood in days if he does not contest extradition.

http://www.nydailynews.co...z0SQ6l8AQB

France is backing the guy as if he has nothing.
Interesting.

He already pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor, and served 45 days in prison for it. He fled because the judge at the time backtracked and was going to put the guy away forever. I'm not excusing 13 year old rape, but are we trying the guy twice for one crime?

So you're saying 45 days of imprisonment is sufficient punishment for raping a 13 year old?

In America, Polanski is largely seen a child rapist who fled justice, but he is a cultural icon in France, where many feel he was persecuted for having sex with a girl who admitted it was not her first time.

He's probably going to go to trial for fleeing.
But he's already been convicted, so I don't think he can be tried twice for that crime. He pleeded guilty and served his initial time.
I believe the judge tried to give him more days or something at which point he fled.

I seriously doubt he'll be tried again for the same crime. There's no way it would fly.

Imago said:

It's illegal.

He's probably going to go to trial for fleeing.
But he's already been convicted, so I don't think he can be tried twice for that crime. He pleeded guilty and served his initial time.
I believe the judge tried to give him more days or something at which point he fled.


I seriously doubt he'll be tried again for the same crime. There's no way it would fly.


How the hell is 45 days a sufficient punishment for statutory rape?

ernestsewell said:

I'm asumming you mean being tried twice for the same crime?

it wasn't rape. she consented.
I heard back then in the hippy days They had a hard time finding a prosecuting lawyer who hadn't himself "raped" a minor.

And the girls parents introduced the girl to him, knowing that he liked young 'uns.

America!!! lol.

it wasn't rape. she consented.
I heard back then in the hippy days They had a hard time finding a prosecuting lawyer who hadn't himself "raped" a minor.

And the girls parents introduced the girl to him, knowing that he liked young 'uns.

America!!! lol.

The director pleaded guilty in 1977 to a single count of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, acknowledging he had sex with a 13-year-old girl, but fled the U.S. before he could be sentenced.

it wasn't rape. she consented.
I heard back then in the hippy days They had a hard time finding a prosecuting lawyer who hadn't himself "raped" a minor.

And the girls parents introduced the girl to him, knowing that he liked young 'uns.

America!!! lol.

I don't know how I feel about this. It wasn't technically rape as the sex wasn't forced. However, morally, minors shouldn't be placed in a position where they are expected to consent. And he still had sex with a minor.

I don't know enough about the case. Why was the judgement rape if the girl said all along that she had consented? Is it some kind of Californian legal rule that any sex with a minor is automatically rape? I'm not saying that I think it makes the situation any better - I'm just curious.

I don't know how I feel about this. It wasn't technically rape as the sex wasn't forced. However, morally, minors shouldn't be placed in a position where they are expected to consent. And he still had sex with a minor.

I don't know enough about the case. Why was the judgement rape if the girl said all along that she had consented? Is it some kind of Californian legal rule that any sex with a minor is automatically rape? I'm not saying that I think it makes the situation any better - I'm just curious.

I feel a bit sorry for all concerned. Thirty years is a long time. Why now?

The 1970s were a very weird time, sexually. Some thirteen year-olds are more sexually precocious than some 18 year-olds. He must have been extremely messed-up at the time. I'm not condoning what happened, I'm just thinking out loud.

Yeah, let's arrest Jack Nicholson now too. He let Polanski use his house for the 'date' with Geimer. And the mother of the girl who more or less pushed her daughter to go along.

Shouldn't the USA hunt after other people? It was 32 years ago. The girl says let him go. Why then make a whole circus around a 76 years old director again?

Question to those of you who feel like it was a long time ago and it shouldn't matter - how would you feel if the girl had been your sister, daughter, cousin, niece, or friend? Would you still say what's the big deal, it was a long time ago? What if the guy wasn't an Oscar-winning film director, but a dude like Phillip Garrido? Still not a big deal?

Just curious.

Question to those of you who feel like it was a long time ago and it shouldn't matter - how would you feel if the girl had been your sister, daughter, cousin, niece, or friend? Would you still say what's the big deal, it was a long time ago? What if the guy wasn't an Oscar-winning film director, but a dude like Phillip Garrido? Still not a big deal?

Just curious.

jone70 said:

What if I said the "girl" was once me and the film director was a middle-aged school teacher? I'd personally see no benefit to dragging up the past, thirty or so years later.