Um, Well, It Happened A Long Time Ago
Um, Well, It Happened A Long Time Ago
Mon amie Emmanuelle Richard (@emmarichard) reread some of "Roman," Polanski's '84 autobio, and Tweeted, "After he flees the US, he boasts of sex with more minors in Europe. I'm done."
Emmanuelle gets it, but Hollywood and others' sympathy for this guy creeps me out.
Meanwhile, there's something I haven't seen in the pieces about this: What kind of mother lets her 13-year-old daughter go without her with a grown man to a photo shoot (or "photo shoot") at Jack Nicholson's house?
In the IHT, Geraldine Ferraro weighs in:
This is the definition of statutory rape. Notice, it doesn't talk about force and it doesn't talk about consent. Neither are needed. The statute is meant to protect children. A 13-year-old can't consent to intercourse with a man over 18, and definitely not with a man in his 30's.Polanski was convicted of a serious crime in the 70's. He chose to abscond to France and because he had money and connections, has lived a charmed life, unhindered by his obligations to society. The message is, rich guys can get away with anything ... or wait -- is it only rich guys with friends in Hollywood? The statute of limitations for rape does not toll simply because 31 years has passed. And victims cannot "forgive" the rapist. The criminal justice system is meant to protect all of us.
UPDATE: Here's the 13-year-old victim's grand jury testimony about what happened from The Smoking Gun.
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