By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
March 28, 2003
Roman Polanski may never be able to escape the stigma of sexual molestation, even though most grant he is a talented director. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the infamous case:
What is Polanski accused of doing?
Plying a 13-year-old girl with Quaaludes and champagne, taking nude photographs of her under the pretense of a fashion shoot and then having sex with her at Jack Nicholson’s house in 1977. The actor wasn’t home.
Has he ever expressed remorse?
Though Polanski claimed that sex with the child was consensual, he admitted in a 1994 interview with Diane Sawyer that “it was not the right thing to do. There was no premeditation–it was something that just happened.”
What does the victim say now?
Though Samantha Geimer, now 39, insists the sex wasn’t consensual, she also doesn’t want Hollywood to penalize his career. “What he does for a living and how good he is at it have nothing to do with me or what he did to me,” she wrote in the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t have any hard feelings toward him, or any sympathy either. He is a stranger to me.”
Will Polanski still be prosecuted?
A spokeswoman for the L.A. district attorney said, “As far as we are concerned, Mr. Polanski is still a fugitive and he would be treated as such
if he ever tried to return.”
Why hasn’t the statute of limitations expired?
There’s no statute of limitations if you’re a fugitive.
