Soaps.com - MESSAGE BOARDS

In case some of ya'll are not aware of the case: a now 76 year-old ROMAN POLANSKI was detained(imprisoned) by Swiss authorities because he fled sentencing on the reduced charges of sex with a minor(13 year-old child) in 1977. In 1977 the famous director ROMAN POLANSKI had the 13 year-old child come to the home of JACK NICHOLSON(who was not home at the time of the incident)where he took photos of her(to allegedly help her develop a career in the movie industry), plied her with champagne & qualludes and had sex with her. The girl was a THIRTEEN year-old CHILD and when POLANSKI was arrested his attorney's put her & her mother on trial(as often is the case with VICTIMS). Regardless if the mother took her child over to the house or if the child wanted a movie career the fact remains the man DRUGGED an underage child and had SEX with her. He should have been charged with STATUATORY RAPE but was instead(as often is the case) pled down to sex with a minor child. Fearing a high sentence ROMAN POLANSKI fled the U.S. in 1978 and hasn't returned since, even when he won an Oscar a few years ago. He & his team of lawyers are fighting extradision back to the U.S. Some are saying let the poor man be he has "suffered" enough. Let me explain their reasoning. Roman Polanski lost his family in the Holocast during WW2(he is Jewish) and his first wife SHARON TATE was brutally murdered by followers of CHARLES MANSON in the late 1960's. I will not go into details but it was very guesome and disturbing as ST was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Yes, he has suffered some terrible tragedies BUT this does not excuse his behavior of RAPING & DRUGGING a 13 year-old CHILD? The victim who is now in her early 40's has forgiven him and POLANSKI is married and I believe has 2 daughters. What do ya'll think? Should he be forced to come back to the U.S. and face his sentencing? I say YES and throw away the key.

Yep- he is no different than any fugitive-he needs to do his time-

The incident took place in 1977.

It was a different time back then and there are two sides to every pancake - no matter how flat it is. This man has been tortured enough. Let him live out his life in Europe.

I am not making excuses for what he did...it was wrong, but I think there is alot more to the story.

Sex with a child is inexcusable! He should have been caught a long time ago. He is disgusting and should be thrown UNDER the jail. I dont care how long ago it was or what is circumstances were what he did is INEXCUSABLE and CRIMINAL! What makes me sick is how his Hollyweird buddies are coming to his defense. They would not feel the same had he raped their child.

It doesn't matter what the circumstances were- the girl was THIRTEEN(13 years old) I don't care if she drugged him, tied him up and raped him- He had no business being with her to start with-much less taking her to an empty house to be alone with her--

i agree he needs ta face the consequences of his actions, no matter how tuff his life has been. it doesnt give him the rite ta mess with someone elses life. specially ah child. this sounds like it wuz completely planned and he knew full well what he wuz doin wuz wrong!~hes ah sick man~just as sick as the rest of the child predetors.

It was inexcusable....

I was simply stating that I think there is more to it. He may be sick, PTSD, or have another mental disfunction. So that is just my opinion.

I too, think sometimes Hollywood needs to shut up.......

I think he was sick back then and who's to say he's still not...
It was a awful thing that happened to Sharon but that does not give him the right to be free.
What does the 13 yr old girl/lady say now? I haven't heard.
A lot of her friends may not know what happened and she may not want them to.

She came forward a few years ago. She accepted settlement a long time ago and has asked for it to be dropped. I didn't realize she was only 13 when this happened. I thought she was a little older.

I think the "victim" should have some say. It was between the two of them, and I think as long as she is not being blackmailed or paid off, her opinion on the matter is the MOST important.

What would civilization and society as a whole be WITHOUT LAW? The victim has a "right" to forgive the person who did this horrible thing to her BUT we do NOT know if this was an isolated incident or RP has done something similiar. It has been reported that RP has had numerous "trysts" with underage girls. Whether this is true or not, I do not know. Anyone who has had a member of their family or had something similiar happen to them knows that forgiveness is NOT about the perpetrator but the victim themselves. By forgiving it will help the victim move forward in their life. The victim has the RIGHT TO FORGIVE but the STATE has the RIGHT TO JUSTICE for ALL IT'S CITIZENS. I feel sorry for RP for what happened to his wife(I do remember the news accounts & pictures of the crime scenes when this happened, it was H-O-R-R-I-F-I-C but it doe NOT excuse RP for his actions of DRUGGING & ANALLY RAPING A CHILD. The LOCKERBIE BOMBER was dying of cancer(supposedly) and released from a SCOTISH prison and was shown compassion BUT did the fact that he was dying of cancer negate the fact that he was responsible for over 200 deaths? NO, and to me a CRIME against a CHILD is just as bad a murder.

It is my understanding that RP "pled down" to a lesser degree to sex with an underage child and was awaiting sentencing. Maybe the courts took him at his "WORD" that he wasn't a flight risk and he did not have to surrender his passport or maybe through his wealth and influence he was able to obtain a passport illegally. Regardless, he ALSO skipped the country by fleeing and went to live and became a FRENCH CITIZEN(because FRANCE does NOT have extradition with the U.S.). He seems to have contempt for the U.S. and our judicial system. Had he accepted his sentence he would likely have served quite a bit less than he should be serving now for not only the crime he committed against the young lady but for skipping the country. If RP would have used the "date" rape drug(had it been available then) would he have been any more or less guilty? A man or even a woman who drugs their victim whether it be with the date rape drug or with qualludes should be punished, especially if a CHILD is involved. If that CHILD paraded nude in front of that man it does NOT matter in the yes of the LAW it is STILL RAPE when she is underage and in the eyes of the law it is RAPE when a man or woman uses the date rape drug to immobilize their victim. If you understand the effects of a drug like "ludes" she was pretty much out of it. Also if he did plead down then the "expense" of the trial and the circus media that were to follow were some of the things that were taken into consideration along with the age of the victim and what a trial would do to her. In sexual cases involving children the age of the victim is alwaysone of the considerations.