Roman Polanski won’t face LA trial for ‘raping underage girl in 1973
Director Roman Polanski will no longer stand trial in the US for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl more than 40 years ago.
The case against 91-year-old Polanski was due to be heard in Los Angeles civil court in August next year, but has now been settled.
The French-Polish director fled the United States decades ago after admitting to legally raping another 13-year-old.
The last case was “Settled in the summer to the mutual satisfaction of the parties and now formally dismissed,” said Polanski’s lawyer Alexander Rufus-Isaacs.
The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that Polanski took a then-teenager to dinner at a Los Angeles restaurant in 1973.
Director Roman Polanski will not stand trial in the US over the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl more than 40 years ago
He allegedly gave her tequila, and when she started feeling dizzy, he drove her to his house, where he forced himself on her.
“She told him, ‘Please don’t do this,’” the plaintiff’s attorney, Gloria Allred, told reporters in March.
“She claims he ignored her pleas. She also alleges that Defendant Polanski removed Plaintiff’s clothes and then sexually assaulted her, causing her immense physical and emotional pain and suffering.”
The accuser, known as Jane Doe, appeared with Allred at a news conference in 2017, where she said she was 16 at the time of the alleged assault.
She said she had talked about what happened to a friend the day after, but had not told anyone about it since.
The civil suit, seeking unspecified damages, was filed in June 2023, just before the expiration of a California law allowing an extended period for claims against alleged perpetrators of sex crimes.
Court papers filed in California in July said a “conditional” agreement had been reached.
Polanski was accused of sexually assaulting a then 16-year-old girl (right, pictured with her attorney Gloria Allred) in 1973. The alleged victim has chosen to remain anonymous
Allred said in an email late Tuesday that “the parties had reached an agreement to settle the claims to their mutual satisfaction.”
Oscar winner Polanski is a divisive figure, with some in the film industry praising his creative genius while others insist he has always been a sexual predator.
Polanski admitted to the statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in a 1977 plea deal to avoid a trial on more serious charges.
But the following year he fled to France after serving 42 days in prison when it emerged that a judge was reconsidering his release. France does not extradite its citizens.
Geimer subsequently defended Polanski and was photographed with him last year.
A French court acquitted Polanski in May of defaming British actor Charlotte Lewis after she accused him of raping her when she was a teenager.
Polanski fled the US to his native France after admitting to the statutory rape of another 13-year-old girl
Polanski has since apologized to Samantha Geimer, the victim in the first case, but denies wrongdoing
The director has always denied wrongdoing, but has since apologized to Geimer, who received $600,000 from Polanski.
He managed to continue his film career and directed ‘The Palace’ in 2023.
However, in 2018, he was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.