In 1977 Roman Polanski was accused of having sex with a thirteen year old girl. He also admitted to his crime before the court, but fled the country before the court could pronounce the verdict. He did do a 42-day psychiatric evaluation, but Polanski fled to France after he was done. For decades, he was considered by U.S. authorities to be a fugitive from justice and did not return to the United States. Polanski avoided visits to countries that were likely to extradite him, such as the United Kingdom. But according to media reports, the director was arrested Saturday while trying to enter Switzerland to attend the Zuruch Film Festival, at the request of United States authorities.
Debra Tate, the sister of Roman Polanski's second wife, actress Sharon Tate, says Polanski is brilliant and a "good guy" and she doesn't think her former brother-in-law can get a fair trial in the United States. Tate tells NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday that the U.S. justice system is broken. Polanski was arrested Saturday in Zurich. The U.S. has been seeking his extradition for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Tate says Polanski did not forcibly have sex with the girl, calling it a "consensual matter."
The victim now 45, is a mother of three and has publicly forgave Polanski and even filed a formal request 12 years ago that L.A. prosecutors drop the charges against him. "I have survived, indeed prevailed, against whatever harm Mr. Polanski may have caused me as a child," she said at the time. "I got over it a long time ago." She said Polanski had paid, and she wanted to move on and stop reliving the details of the assault every time he made headlines. "True as they may be, the continued publication of those details causes harm to me, my beloved husband, my three children and my mother," she said.
My opinion...........
Roman Polanski raped a child. Let's just start right there, because that's the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested after 32 years in "exile" (which in this case means owning multiple homes in Europe, continuing to work as a director, marrying and fathering two children, even winning an Oscar, but never -- poor baby -- being able to return to the U.S.). All these stars and directors supporting him? What if it was their daughter or sister??? Roman Polanski raped a child!
First of all I do sympathize with the victim, I do. But for good or ill, the justice system doesn't work on behalf of victims; it works on behalf of justice."It works on behalf of the people, in fact ... the people whose laws in every state make it clear that both child rape and fleeing prosecution are serious crimes. The point is not to keep 76-year-old Polanski off the streets or help his victim feel safe. The point is that drugging and raping a child, then leaving the country before you can be sentenced for it, is behavior our society should not... and at least in theory, does not... tolerate, no matter how famous, wealthy or well-connected you are, no matter how old you were when you finally got caught, no matter what your victim says about it now, no matter how mature she looked at 13, no matter how pushy her mother was, and no matter how many really swell movies you've made. Roman Polanski raped a child.
