Director Roman Polanski taken into Swiss custody on 1978 U.S. arrest warrant

[buttercup]

I am the same age as Polanskis victim. If someone assualted me like that 32 years ago, I would want his balls in a vice for life. Coward fled justice and lived a good life. Even if he bought the girl off, that doesnt buy him the right to flee justice.

Maybe she's not like you. Maybe she was pissed at first, but now, 32 years later, she thinks, hey, move on.

Maybe she thinks she's a lot better off having had a substantial cash settlement, than spending her life tightening the vice on the guys' balls, as you say would want to do. If she's going to be raped, better it be by a wealthy film director than a homeless illiterate. That's assuming she wants to get over being a victim, and to put the experience behind her, and get on with creating a happy life for herself.

IMO, if she (willingly) agrees to make a settlement, that does buy him the right to move on. IMO, she has a moral duty not to renege on the terms of the settlement (not that we know what they were) -- from the standpoint of her morals, not his, of course.

 

[Aardvark154]

The French government has no standing as a party to the extradition proceedings in Switzerland.

Well yes and no. You don't think that the U.S. and Canada don't get involved when they feel one of their nationals is being unjustly extradited between one third party country and another?

Further as the expression goes the U.S. is a long way from Switzerland and France is next door.

 

[Aardvark154]

Maybe she's not like you. Maybe she was pissed at first, but now, 32 years later, she thinks, hey, move on.

Maybe she thinks she's a lot better off having had a substantial cash settlement, than spending her life tightening the vice on the guys' balls, as you say would want to do. If she's going to be raped, better it be by a wealthy film director than a homeless illiterate. That's assuming she wants to get over being a victim, and to put the experience behind her, and get on with creating a happy life for herself.

IMO, if she (willingly) agrees to make a settlement, that does buy him the right to move on. IMO, she has a moral duty not to renege on the terms of the settlement (not that we know what they were) -- from the standpoint of her morals, not his, of course.

And to play Devil's Advocate, Polanski may be right that her mother threw her into Polanski's arms.

 

[Aardvark154]

Wow. So little time on his hands. How did the District Attorney find out about that, watching the analog TV at Burger King? . . .

It does seem logical Gyaos that more than most newspapers The Los Angeles Times would cover foreign film festivals and might mention that fact that Polanski was going to be in Switzerland to receive an award. . . .

 

[james t kirk]

And to play Devil's Advocate, Polanski may be right that her mother threw her into Polanski's arms.

Yeah, but, if a mother threw her 13 year old daughter into my arms, I'd throw her right back.

No excuse.

As pointed out, Polanski has a thing for young girls.

 

[Don]

I hope they don't go soft on him. Last thing we want to show pedophiles is that if you can escape capture long enough, you can screw little boys and girls and get away with it.

 

[alexmst]

Yeah, but, if a mother threw her 13 year old daughter into my arms, I'd throw her right back.

No excuse.

As pointed out, Polanski has a thing for young girls.

European laws allow sex with younger partners than current American laws.

In France the age of consent for girls was 13 until 1945, and is presently 15.

By age of consent I mean assuming the male is in his 40's like Polanski was, not a guy of similar age to the girl.

In Germany age of consent is 14

In Spain age of consent is still 13. During the late 1990's it was 12, but was raised to 13 in 1999.

In Italy, age of consent is 14. For persons in a position of authority (such as teachers) the age of consent for their students is 16.

Note this is not SP allowed ages in those countries, but for civilians.

Also note that down here in Florida the age of consent is 18, and it is also 18 in California.

Of course, in Polanski's case, even if he thought the French law pre-1945 was still in place in both France and the U.S. in 1977 (it wasn't), Polanski raped the girl by his own gulity plea admission - it wasn't an issue of age of consent.

 

[PornAddict]

Ditto that.

Let it go.

No fucking way!!!
I hope the pedophiles fucker Polanski rot in jail. I hope he get gang rape and dies in jail!!!

 

[mandrill]

Of course, in Polanski's case, even if he thought the French law pre-1945 was still in place in both France and the U.S. in 1977 (it wasn't), Polanski raped the girl by his own guilty plea admission - it wasn't an issue of age of consent.

IIRC, he didn't plead to rape. Only to intercourse with a 13 year old.

Aardvark, the Canadian government appears to be notoriously spineless when it comes to protecting its nationals, the latest examples being the woman in Kenya and the Khadr case. The US is probably a lot more assertive.

I think you have a good point when you indicate that France is a lot closer to Switzerland than the US and is probably a far more important business and diplomatic partner.

Willy, I am so skeptical about the whole Afghanistan mission that I have no idea what the US offered Poland and France to begin with to get them to sign up for that loser deal. So I don't know what leverage France and Poland would have. Franco-US relations seem to be generally so bad anyway - viz Iraq - I'm not sure they could get much worse.

How about this for an alternative scenario? After some backroom deal-cutting, RP agrees to "voluntarily" return to LA -i.e. no feds, no cuffs, no detention. OTOH, the California Attorney-General stipulates that he will not seek incarceration for RP because of RP's "age" and that the existing 42-day sentence will be indefinitely suspended and not served. RP will be sentenced to 12 months probation and given a mild scolding by the judge. But the US will have "won". Switzerland will have honoured the extradition treaty and France will have made its point.

End result: Everyone is happy.

 

[glaeken]

For those defending Polanski try reading these pages of the transcript from the grand jury investigation:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskib10.html
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskib11.html
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskib12.html
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskib13.html
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskib14.html

What the girl describes would be called rape regardless of her age. She was 13 years old, drunk, drugged, vaginally raped and sodomized.

Polanski settled a civil suit with the girl but that has no bearing on the criminal charges. And just because it was a long time ago does not give him a get out of jail free card.

 

[Rockslinger]

Unlike some citizens of France, Poland and Switzerland, I am so proud to be a citizen of a country that does NOT harbour escaped convicted pedophiles.
In fact, the pedophilia laws of Canada applies to Canadians anywhere in the world. Just ask Christopher Neil.

I saw some documentaries on sex trade in the 3rd world and the worst scumbags are European men who travel to Thailand, Philippines and Latin America to fuck underage boys and girls. So, the Europeans better think twice about sending their men to Canada and the U.S. to rape our women.

Here is one example of how Canada deals with our rapists. Member of Parliament Jack Ramsey was arrested in 1999 for a rape he commited in 1969 when he was a young RCMP officer. Yes, he was arrested 30 years after the crime.

 

[alexmst]

From CNN:

"But the original judge in the case, who is now dead, first sent the director to maximum-security prison for 42 days while he underwent psychological testing. Then, on the eve of his sentencing, the judge told attorneys he was inclined to send Polanski back to prison for another 48 days".

Am I reading this right? He fled to avoid a sentence of only 48 more days in jail? Couldn't he have done a mere 48 days to put it all behind him at the time? He must have really hated the 42 days he was in jail prior to his fleeing the jurisdiction to be a lifelong fugitive over a potental 48 days in Folsom Pen. I assumed he was fleeing a sentence of at least 2 years. Why would anyone go to all that trouble to avoid 48 more days? In fact, with good behaviour, he'd have probably been out in 3 weeks or less if his full sentence was 48 days.

 

[mandrill]

I just heard on CNN another FIFTY YEARS !!!. Holy shit, if some judge was going to jump a plea bargain and throw in another fifty years, I'd buy a plane ticket too.

 

[Aardvark154]

I just heard on CNN another FIFTY YEARS !!!. Holy shit, if some judge was going to jump a plea bargain and throw in another fifty years, I'd buy a plane ticket too.

As I posted before this is a troubling case.

Many parts of California are lovely to visit, but I certainly wouldn't want to live there.

 

[LateComer]

European laws allow sex with younger partners than current American laws.

In France the age of consent for girls was 13 until 1945, and is presently 15.

By age of consent I mean assuming the male is in his 40's like Polanski was, not a guy of similar age to the girl.

In Germany age of consent is 14

In Spain age of consent is still 13. During the late 1990's it was 12, but was raised to 13 in 1999.

In Italy, age of consent is 14. For persons in a position of authority (such as teachers) the age of consent for their students is 16.

Note this is not SP allowed ages in those countries, but for civilians.

Also note that down here in Florida the age of consent is 18, and it is also 18 in California.

Of course, in Polanski's case, even if he thought the French law pre-1945 was still in place in both France and the U.S. in 1977 (it wasn't), Polanski raped the girl by his own gulity plea admission - it wasn't an issue of age of consent.

Even here In Canada the age of consent was just raised from 14 to 16. Your point remains though that this is not a case of age of consent.

 

[Sammy the Bull]

he didn't plead to rape. Only to intercourse with a 13 year old.

What do you mean "only" ????!!

 

[fuji]

IIRC, he didn't plead to rape. Only to intercourse with a 13 year old.

What's the difference? Isn't that statutory rape?

 

[papasmerf]

hang him

 

[mandrill]

What do you mean "only" ????!!

Less serious if it is consensual than if he forced himself on her.

 

[Sammy the Bull]

Less serious if it is consensual than if he forced himself on her.

I see your point, but PL did drug her so it couldnt have been 100% consensual