james t kirk

Curious to know everyone's thoughts on Roman Polanski getting busted by the Swiss and now being held - presumably to be returned to the United States to face charges stemming from him having sex with a 13 year old girl 30 years ago.

It would appear that the US has been after Polanski for many years and has never forgotten about him. The Justice Department learned he would be travelling to Switzerland and set it up with the Swiss to bust him upon his arrival in Zurich (where he was scheduled to receive an award).

It's an interesting scenario and begs the question should they throw the book at Polanski, or let it go.

The problem for Polanski may end up being the fact that he ran off rather than face justice. (See Martha Stewart for example who was busted not so much for insider trading as she was for lying about it.)

Anyway, the long arm of US justice has finally caught up with Polanski.

Originally my opinion to just let it go, however, I have now changed my mind after seeing both photos of the girl in question from 30 years ago and reading the transcripts from young girl's testimony to the Grand Jury 30 years ago.

The Smoking Gun - Polanski The Predator

When you read this, it is shocking and it is clear that not only was it sex with a minor but also that he co-erced (raped) the girl and fed her booze and sleeping pills so as to have his way with her. He may be a brilliant director, but he's also a pedophile.

You be the judge.

Glory's Sun

fry his ass.

he ran to France because of their limited extradition policy with the US. He admitted it, and while the judge was corrupt in his case, he should face the problem and have his ass handed to him in prison.

FuglyStick

+1

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Seaver

He drugged and raped a 13 year old girl.

I don't care that the movies he directed were good, he drugged and raped a 13 year old girl.

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SSJTWIZTA

+2

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filtherton

I concur with the folks above me. I am just a bit taken aback at how many child-rape apologists there are when it comes to this guy.

ratbastid

I don't really know much about this, but I thought I heard that the girl later recanted her testimony. Anything on that?

Glory's Sun

the girl didn't recant anything. She only asked that the case be dropped because bringing it up in a constant fashion brings too much pain to her and her family. She's ashamed and just wants it to go away.

ratbastid

Ah. Well then Polanski should suffer a punishment of her choosing.

Aladdin Sane

You know that punishment for felony criminality is not handed down by the victim. Civil society demands punishment based on law, as drugging a child in order to anal rape her is an affront to civilization as a whole.

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KellyC

I'm of the opinion that no one is above justice. Serve it to him--even if he's 100 and dying.

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Reese

I'll try to play devil's advocate.. That kid was busy early on. Had alcohol before, had sex twice, been under the influence of Quaaludes all before the age of 13... Maybe she made that shit up and now regrets it but can't recant her story without facing purgery charges.

Not necessarily, I mean sure she was underage but pedophile assumes he had a preference of underage versus a crime of opportunity.

Honestly, I think it's been a long time coming. Even if she says she forgives him, I still think she'll feel better knowing he's getting what he truly deserves. If he had just faced his punishment head on he could have been out of prison and actually lived out his last days at home free to go where he wanted. He's spent his life restricted from going places and now he's going to have serve the same sentence and likely die in prison. He made many wrong choices and instead of owning up to them he tried to avoid them but they caught up to him and he's worse off now that he was before. He deserves what he gets.

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Charlatan

I don't know enough about this to make a judgment but it sounds like he should stand trial and be judged accordingly.

If he's found guilty he should do the time.

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Tully Mars

He already plead guilty...

Wiki link here

He bolted from the states to avoid doing the time for his crime.

IMO, screw him, he drugged and raped a 13 yr old girl. Lock him up.

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GreyWolf

The reason Polanski ran was because despite the plea bargain that would have spared him any prison time, he was going to be sent back to jail until such time as the judge in the case decided on the validity of the plea bargain. It wasn't so much flouting US law as it was a reaction to the judge's decision. I don't like plea bargains, but once one's made, it pretty well has to be honoured or you'll never get another one from anyone.

Now... that being said, the idiot DA that would have brokered or accepted a plea bargain of that nature should have been strung up by the short hairs.

It doesn't matter that Polanski's wife (Sharon Tate) claimed the girl looked like she could have been 25... she wasn't. And she wasn't a willing participant. Polanski should be crucified. My fear is that since he's not in the US yet, and that France will be able to pressure the Swiss into releasing him back into France.

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paddyjoe

they should throw the asshole in a cell with jerry lee lewis. i'm sure they'd have plenty to talk about....

james t kirk

See, in doing a little reading on the net about Polanski, it is AMAZING what you can find out.

He is definitely a Pedophile because he also dated a then 15 year old Nastassja Kinski.

Nastassja Kinski - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The 13 year old was right after Kinski.

You can BET that there are other young girls as well.

Jove

I think Roman Polanski has some sort of mental illness after discovering the manson's murdered his pregnant wife. I know that is not an excuse for what he did and probably should go to prison just like every person who decides to have sex with an underage person and then flee's from the United States before getting a sentence.

mixedmedia

well, I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised the folks of TFP are by and large well-informed on the story behind this arrest and are aligning themselves in this way. there have historically been a lot of mistaken assumptions made about this case.
apologists for this man make me sick.

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snowy

I can't help but think that he should be glad he stood trial already; if this case were to be prosecuted today, I doubt he would get off with a plea bargain for unlawful sex with a minor.

I think the Swiss authorities did the right thing in light of their extradition treaty with the United States, and I'm glad our authorities have never lost sight of this case. Polanski has been a fugitive for too long; he needs to serve his time.

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roachboy

yeah see the problem here is kinda obvious, yes?

fact is that this is pretty embarrassing all the way around. if you think about polanski through contemporary standards--like what animates the posts above---you cannot think about him as a film director.
if you think about him as a film director, you cannot think about him as a fugitive.
if you know that he was living in the house he has owned in switzerland for the past 25-odd years all summer...you kinda have to wonder what the point of waiting until the festival was to arrest him.

there is something very very odd about all this.


anyway, this article repeats the division pretty well through a recap of the split reactions about the arrest:

Should Roman Polanski be above the law? | Film | The Guardian

the piece starts off in one direction then goes in another. it's interesting.

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GreyWolf

Good recap of the situation in this article:

Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child - Broadsheet - Salon.com

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ironman

Fry his ass. I always was under the assumption that the sex had being consensual, but after finding out he boozed and drugged her, I don't care if he's the fucking Jesus of directors, he is a rapist and must be judged accordingly.

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james t kirk

Yes, that is indeed a very interesting angle.

What changed?

I have to wonder if the Swiss aren't getting something out of this? (Like supposedly the British did by releasing the dying (but not quite dead yet) Pan Am bomber).

Did the American gov't offer something up in return for nabbing Polanski this time?

If the American Gov't did offer something up, you can bet that they won't be going easy on his ass despite it being 30 years later.

girldetective

By Reece aka cybermike:He is a pedophile, with a history of sex with underage girls. It is documented. This girl was not his first, nor his last.


Above, Aladdin Sane says : Civil society demands punishment based on law, as drugging a child in order to anal rape her an affront to civilization as a whole. I appreciate this, as it is how I feel. Actually, I feel more than affronted. I feel protective.

Thanks to those of you who stand up for the girls! They will be better women for it.

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highthief

Given that the judge was admittedly biased, given time already served, and given the victim's desire to see this over with, I doubt Polanski will serve much if any time in jail.

I don't think waht he did was in any way correct, I'm just saying those are the facts and if you think he's going to the pen, you're wrong.

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Glory's Sun

I dunno highthief, with the amount of exposure this is getting the DA is going to be under huge amounts of pressure to not only get a conviction on the rape charge, but also the fugitive charge. The victim may want this to be over with but we'll see a whole new trial and conviction I think.

mixedmedia

good lord

I am completely able to separate Roman Polanski's personal life from his achievements as a film director. I can easily sit and enjoy his films (well, some of them...not that Johnny Depp fiasco) without even thinking about him and what he did. That's because they are inconsequential to each other.

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PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Aladdin Sane

Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969. She couldn't have claimed anything about the 1977 child rape case.

Go here to read the girl's Grand Jury testimony: Polanski The Pervert - June 10, 2008. Polanski drugged and raped the little girl. She told him "No" but he did it anyway. He's a real hero.

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World's King

I'd fuck him...


Oh wait... what?

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james t kirk

They will get him on his fleeing justice as opposed to the rape. Just like they got OJ, or Martha Stewart, they'll get Polanski. All you'll hear is, "it's not about the rape, it's about him fleeing"

They'll give him 10 years.

As far as I'm concerned, too bad, so sad for Roman Polanski the pedophile. He's not above the law simply because he makes movies.

wooÐs

More fame for the famous.

girldetective

Like mixedm I feel the same about Polanski. i am able to differentiate his work from his personal life, and I like his work. His vampire film is memorable.

The problem I see with this whole thing is: Will justice really be served so many years later, and who will it be serving? If he is still pedophiling around, well then of course. But if not, perhaps we should look to those who are.

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Iliftrocks

Yep, fry his ass about sums it up

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dippin

his actions, if the girl's account is true, are despicable.

Still, if anything he should be retried. I have a real problem with using a fake deal to get a confession and then incarcerating him for avoiding the outcome of that fake deal.

GreyWolf

You're right of course. Serves me right for going from memory. I believe that there was a woman at his house that night who defended Polanski on the grounds he didn't know how old the girl was, and that her appearance was certainly "mature". I'm not sure if it was his wife at the time (if he had one), or simply a houseguest. Someone else may know for sure.

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SSJTWIZTA

defended his rape?

i dont care how old the person is, you dont get 'em loopy and stick it in their pooper.

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Grancey

Why was she alone with Polanski? Don't mothers usually stand by when their young daughters are trying to become famous. Did she just drop her off at this house to be alone with a 44 yr old stranger and agree to pick her up later? I can't find these details anywhere so maybe somone else knows.

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mixedmedia

From what I've heard, her mother allowed her to go with him because she was trying to get her daughter into films. Whether she suspected or not? I imagine she's the only one who knows that.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

ratbastid

I've been doing some reading about this. This is in no way meant to excuse Polanski's actions, I should be clear. Despicably enough, these facts were brought out in deposition and aired at the indictment hearing, a classic case of blaming the victim... But the fact of the matter is, the 13 year old victim wasn't a virgin, was a fairly regular user of alcohol and other substances, and the term "pimped her out" has been used to describe her mom's behavior toward her. Point being, it's not like her family could necessarily be relied upon to ensure her well-being.

If you put yourself in her mom's shoes, you know, it becomes easier to see how this could happen. Your daughter is going to be a star! I mean, you drop her off at Jack Nicholson's house, for god's sake. To do her second photo shoot with Roman Polanski, who just made the smash hit Chinatown. This is all GOOD news! And in a simpler, less suspicious time, I'd also note. It's hard to blame anybody but Polanski for what happened next.