L.A. judge sets 2025 trial date for Roman Polanski accused of raping woman in 1973 – but will he show up after flouting US cases for years while living in Switzerland

A California judge has set an August 2025 trial date for infamous director Roman Polanski in a civil case brought by a woman who alleged he raped her in 1973.

Polanski has faced numerous sexual assault allegations in the United States, but escaped prosecution after fleeing to Europe in 1978, on the eve of his conviction for raping a 13-year-old.

The lawsuit, filed by another woman, anonymized as Jane Doe, claims the director raped her when she was a child at his Benedict Canyon home, reported KYMA.

At a news conference Tuesday, her lawyer Gloria Allred said Polanski was served with the lawsuit at his home in Paris.

“It took me a very long time to decide this case against Mr. Polanski,” the prosecutor said at the news conference.

“It took me a very long time to decide this case against Mr. Polanski,” the prosecutor said at the news conference

Allred said Polanski underwent the trial at his home in Paris. Allred said Polanski does not have to attend the civil trial in person but can appear virtually if necessary

Allred said Polanski does not have to attend the civil trial in person but can appear virtually if necessary.

“He’s not coming back, but this is a civil lawsuit. He doesn’t have to show up,” Allred said.

‘We’re going to drop him off. At least that’s our intention at this point, it could change.”

The woman first came forward during a press conference with Allred in August 2017, it is reported Variety.

According to the lawsuit filed last year, “Plaintiff recalls waking up in Defendant’s bed while lying next to her in bed,” the lawsuit states.

‘He told her he wanted to have sex with her. Plaintiff, although dizzy, said to defendant, “No.” She told him, “Please don’t do this.” ”

Deadline reported Polanski’s lawyer Alexander Rufus-Isaacs: ‘Mr. Polanski vehemently denies the allegations made against him in the lawsuit and believes the court is the appropriate venue to hear this matter.”

Polanski is wanted in the United States for the 1977 rape of a 13-year-old and faces several other charges of alleged sexual abuse that date back decades and have exceeded the statute of limitations – all claims he has denied.

British actress Charlotte Lewis, who is suing Polanski for defamation, recently broke down in tears in a Paris criminal court as she described how he allegedly raped her before launching a “smear campaign” to discredit the allegations.

Polanski has faced numerous sexual assault allegations in the United States, but escaped prosecution after fleeing to Europe in 1978

British actress Charlotte Lewis, who is suing Polanski for defamation, recently broke down in tears in a Paris criminal court as she described how he allegedly raped her before launching a ‘smear campaign’ to discredit the allegations

Lewis, 56, says Polanski assaulted her as a teenager before trying to portray her as a child prostitute after she went public with the allegations on the first day of her libel trial against the 90-year-old in the French capital.

Ms Lewis waived her legal right to anonymity and said: ‘It has been a smear campaign against me that has been going on since 2010. It almost ruined my entire life.”

Lewis claims she was attacked the first night she met Polanski, while auditioning for his 1986 film “Pirates” in Paris. She first made the sexual assault allegations in 2010, which were dismissed years later by Polanski as a “heinous lie.”

Lewis said in court today that Polanski tried to portray her as a child prostitute, with significant consequences for her reputation and social life.

It was the first time Polanski, a married father of two, had appeared in court since fleeing America in 1977 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.