Roman Polanski escapes justice on sex assault claim (again): No charges in attack

Prosectors have declined to charge fugitive director Roman Polanski in yet another child rape case.

The Daily News reports that Polanski will escape prosecution for allegations that he raped a then-15-year-old girl when she was pursuing a role in a movie he was directing.

Renate Langer had previously revealed to the New York Times that Polanski invited her to his chalet in Bern, Switerzland, when she was 15 years old, telling her that he may cast her in a movie. While there, Langer said that Polanski raped her. He apologized for the incident, she said, but then allegedly raped her again after giving her a small part in the movie Che?.

The alleged rape took place in 1972, but Langer said she did not want to go public with the allegations while her parents were still alive. On Wednesday, Swiss prosecutors declined to go forward with the case after concluding that too much time had elapsed since the alleged rapes. In 1972, the statute of limitations for prosecuting sexual offenses involving a minor was 15 years.

Polanski fled the United States in 1978 ahead of his sentencing for a statutory rape conviction. He had earlier pleaded guilty to statutory rape in a plea deal that dismissed the more serious charges, after he was accused of drugging and raping Samantha Geimer, who was 13 years old at the time of the incident. The Chinatown director narrowly avoided one extradition attempt when he was arrested after arriving to the Zurich Film Festival in 2009. For most of the last 40 years he has lived in France and Poland.

While Geimer has said that the has forgiven Polanski and believes that he should avoid further prosecution, multiple women have come forward over the years to claim that Polanski abused or assaulted them.

 

[Feature image: Associated Press]