Switzerland released Polanski upon the nation’s unwitting children today, much to the chagrin of, well, everyone. The Swiss government decided not to extradite Polanski to the US, where he’d certainly serve a stringent jail sentence, so odds are that Polanski’s going to hide out in Switzerland for awhile until the storm settles — which, for some people, will be never.
According to the AP:
The Swiss government declared renowned film director Roman Polanski a free man on Monday after rejecting a U.S. request to extradite him on a charge of having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. The Swiss mostly blamed U.S. authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about Polanski’s sentencing procedure in 1977-1978. The stunning decision could end the United States’ three-decade pursuit of Polanski, unless he travels to another country that would be willing to apprehend him and weigh sending him to Los Angeles. France, where he has spent much of his time, does not extradite its own citizens, and the public scrutiny over Switzerland’s deliberations may dissuade other nations from making such a spectacular arrest. “Mr. Polanski can now move freely. Since 12:30 today he’s a free man,” Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf declared. Authorities in Los Angeles and Washington cannot appeal the Swiss decision. Sandy Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment.
I’m glad Mr. Polanski can now “move freely.” That’s just fabulous. Let’s hope the sick fuck doesn’t move his shit all over another thirteen year-old’s asshole again, since it’s clear that no punishment affects Polanski’s perverse gonads. And to all of you celebrities backing Polanski because he’s some kind of motherfucking “misunderstood artist” or whatever? FUCK YOU. Great example you’re setting! Let’s free the child-raping celebrity — the perp is famous and more than likely will get away with it, so why the hell not. FUCK YOU, celebrities in the support of Roman Polanski — and shame on you, too. I hope you’re happy now.
Way to rant. And not tell the story. I doubt you even know the whole thing and if you do then SHAME ON YOU for not telling your readers. I’m not saying that what he did was fine, but this isn’t an open and shut case. So get your facts straight, start acting like a writer and less like some petulant child who likes to scream “fuck” over the interenet.
+1. If by “stringent” sentence, you mean the roughly 45 day sentence he was looking at back in the day, uh, he’s probably already served that, between his jail time and his house arrest. His own victim doesn’t want this to go forward. Let it die. It’s over. And your story is nothing short of reactionary, should also die, and is over.
Polanski is like the tortoise, he likes to get there before the hair.
Co-sign. Well said Sarah.
Yeah, I disagree here. Polanski served his sentence, got fucked over by the U.S. system, and Switzerland has every right to choose not to extradite. What he did was awful, but what the U.S. legal system has done to him is shitty too. The system has to be fair to everyone, child molesters included, or it doesn’t work at all.
You are a fucking idiot!
FYI the average prison sentence in CA for a child rapist is 7-11 years. He hasn’t served anywhere near that even if you factor in the house arrest.
But what was the average in the 70s? I’d wager it wasn’t 7-11 years then.
I would also wager that it was more than 45 days.
Not really. Seeing as the term ‘child molester’ and sex pedophilia is a fairly recent taboo in the history of the world, most of the time in the 70’s people who were charged with the crime were seen as ‘sick’ in the head and so were treated that way… by being put into psychiatric observation. So HE did serve proper time. If you investigate further you’ll find that even after his time in observation was over the judge dealing with his case wanted fame for being harsh to a celebrity and was going to give him an unfair sentence… which is why he ultimately fled. He plead guilty, was willing to accept punishment… but was not willing to submit to unfair penalties.
I disagree Beet. The DA’s case was tight as a 12-year-old.
Well said Sarah! I completly agree.
Hear hear Beet. I have a really hard time with this one, because what he did was awful. But he did, in fact, please guilty, served the time, and then it all went to shit.
For those who like to read, here is a link from The Smoking Gun that has the grand jury testimony from this pervert’s 13 year old victim. Read it as if the young lady was your little sister or your daughter.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0610081polanski1.html
I know Wiki isn’t always accurate but it was an easy place to check and it seems that Mr. Polanski served 42 days for a psych evaluation….and that was it. Ok, Ms. Beet, I guess technically Polanski “served his time.”
I read this site every day and don’t always agree with you, Sarah, but tonight I am by your side. May that c*cksucker burn in hell for taking such liberties with a naive and confused little girl. A little girl!!!! Children can never give consent. There are millions of women who look at that monster and remember their own abuse. It happens every day. And the little girl was ANALLY RAPED for Christ’s sake! I remember when this happened and Polanski complained about how American’s are backward about having sex with young girls…unlike Europe.
Thank you, Sarah, for expressing the anger that lives inside every abused little girl who grew up strong in spite of it all!
OK, I’m gonna play devils advocate here. The “victim” (and yes, I used quotations which I will defend shortly) doesn’t want charges to go ahead. Why is that?
I say victim because whatever a large majority of wowsers, up on their righteous high horses say, there are facts which they never seem to acknowledge. One is that up until around 100 years ago it was common – normal actually – for females to have sexual relations at the age of thirteen. Average age of conception was 15 years of age. Another is that teens today are having sexual relationships at this age whether you like this fact or not.
Is this right and in the best interests of everybody? Well frankly I don’t know but I would suspect as far as conception goes it isn’t. However to say that all sexual relationships between early teens are harmful, leaving the child with deep long-term problems for the rest of their life, regardless of circumstance, is simply ludicrous given the evidence and past history IMO. Are you actually trying to say that almost every woman up until 100 years ago was severely emotionally stunted and had significant psychological issues related to sex before the age of 18?
Early teenagers are sexual beings, like it or not. Some persue sexual relationships whether that fits with your view of children as innocent, sexless angels who are completely helpless until magically everything changes on their 18th birthday. Please do not think that I’m advocating rape, child molestation or anything of the sort, I am not.
The victim wants this all to be over because it has dragged on for so many years. Why is that? Because Polanski ran and that has forced the legal system and the media to keep the story alive, further torturing her in the process. If he would face the charges, the turmoil would end for her.
You really need to read the testimony of the child. Basically a 43 year old man put his dick in a 13 year old girls butt while she cried and begged him to stop. The girl said no and also said she was afraid of him. He’s guilty, he ran to avoid doing time, end of story. Read her testimony, there’s a link to it upthread. It was in no way a consensual act.
Amen.
I wasn’t going to say anything but I just must. I read that in 1850 the life expectancy was about 39. Thirty nine?!? In today’s world “life begins at 40.” Obviously, people had to grow up fast and grow up strong to survive. Women’s purpose was to make babies and tend to the chores. I don’t think many people gave much thought about how women felt emotionally about their lot in life. That old cigarette commercial from the 60’s that said women have “come a long way baby” was only partially correct. As long as other women can not see how damaging the rape of a thirteen year old girl by a nearly fifty year old man is, well, it is the year 2010 & we still have a long way to go.
He was 43 not “nearly 50” – that doesn’t make rape OK but you should stop with the hysterical attitude where you make false statements in order to magnify the issue. Thanks.
Normal consensual sex at 13, sure. Hell, even with an older man.
But that is not what we are talking about here. This girl was drugged and then anally raped.
Having had a similar experience at 21 let me tell you, there is no context, historical or otherwise, in which this is okay.
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I’m sorry, I thought this was a proper website not some fourteen year old’s blog. Obviously you don’t know a lot about writing because there are ways to get opinions across without resorting to random swearing. I’m not some prude, and I won’t claim that I don’t swear, I just hate the fact that someone’s getting PAID to write like this.
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I feel your pain, Sarah. I really do.
The fact is, our justice system FAILED, big time, on this one.
The deal he got in the first place was a complete and utter fucking disgrace. He should have NEVER gotten that deal. But he did. Trying to make up for it after the fact sort of makes even MORE of a mockery of the legal system.
The Swiss requested documents, we didn’t send them, they are within their rights to refuse to extradite. It sucks all around.
As for people saying the case should be dropped because she doesn’t want it pursued anymore, that is utter and complete bullshit. She may be tired of the publicity, but that is NOT a good reason to let anybody get away with what he did.
He is the filthiest kind of scum, and the people who support him are vile toadies, every last one of them. But the L.A. County court system is to blame for him getting away with it. System FAIL.
Agreed. I mean, it’s not as if he was charged or accused of having sex with a seventeen year-old girl who may have consented, or may not (which doesn’t make things much better), he forced himself anally on a thirteen year-old girl. I think a lot of people forget that one. I know that people make mistakes (which, this one was clearly a big one), but to run from the law instead of facing up like a man, and waiting to be caught instead of turning yourself in and doing the right thing? It lends no credence to the “punishment” that he’s already faced.
I just have to pick you up on this although to be clear it’s a common occurrence that many people perpetuate.
Equating masculinity with electing to face charges and not fleeing (or not as in this case) is simply grossly sexist IMO. For example is a woman chose to flee the country and not face charges you never hear people commenting “She should be a woman and face charges” – do you see what I’m saying?
People often act according to their best interests – in Polanskis case that is what he did, regardless of how dispicable you, me or anyone else thinks this is. However, it certainly has nothing to do with his masculinity OK?
just another case of a celebrity winning the sympathy of the public. Sure you may argue that he’s in the latter half of his life so let’s go easy on him, but if he were to go to jail now, in his 70s, it’s only because he was trying to flee justice that should have been served more than 30 years ago. And why did he flee? Because he obviously knew what he did was wrong. Yeah he made beautiful movies and shit, but that is certainly no excuse. I’m sure it’s not great on his conscience either to have this hanging over him for a good portion of his lifetime. It would have been better for him to have atoned a long time ago.
And it just hurts me when actors I used to admire (and still do) stick up for him. Johnny Depp, I’m looking at you!
“And why did he flee? Because he obviously knew what he did was wrong.”
No this is most probably not the case: his comments at the time and afterwards indicate that he did not feel he had done anything wrong.
He fled due to the threat of incarceration. Think before you post next time.
It amazes me that someone could write such an passionate blurb containing little actual fact and mostly personal opinion when it’s completely obvious that the writer of the post has very little knowledge of the actual story and what really went on. Props though for not being able to report solidly on a story and injecting it with a childish attitude.
It amazes me that someone hasn’t put a bullet in Polanski’s groin. Believe me, if someone did that to my daughter and fled, I’d make it my life’s mission to hunt their ass down.
Just because he ran for all these years and the pussy French government has no problem with child molestation of American children doesn’t mean we should EVER stop pursuing that asshole.
I have read quite a bit about this case and Polanski fled because the plea deal he thought was in place when he plead guilty was going to be thrown out by the judge (as the judge can do with any plea deal) and he was looking at significant jail time. He’s being chased down at this point because he fled and the case was never closed.
Well you apparently haven’t read very much about the case at all if you’re getting the country wrong that your accusing of “being soft on child molesters”. LOL?
It amazes me that someone goes to such great lengths to defend a child rapist who by raping and then running has not done anything worth defending.