After several tries, U.S. officials finally nab Roman Polanski in 1970s rape case [Updated]

Three decades after he fled the United States following his arrest for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, Roman Polanski was taken into custody in Zurich this morning and faces extradition to Los Angeles.

Polanski, the famed film director whose career continued to flourish even after fleeing for Europe, was arrested as he arrived in the Swiss city to accept an award at the Zurich Film Festival.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office learned last week that Polanski had plans to travel to Zurich this weekend, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors sent a provisional arrest warrant to the U.S. Justice Department, which presented it to  Swiss authorities. On at least two previous occasions, the district attorney’s office has received reports that Polanski had travel arrangements to countries with extradition treaties with the U.S. and prepared paperwork for his arrest, Gibbons said.

“But in the end, he apparently found out about it and didn’t go,” she said.

A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that the U.S. Marshals Service had come close to arresting Polanski half a dozen times or so over the past few decades -- though several of those opportunities presented themselves in the last two years.

"For one reason or another, it just didn't work out," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing. "There are so many variables."

The source said Polanski always was very careful about when and where he traveled. But as new questions arose in recent years about the fairness of his case, the source said Polanski appeared to become more at ease about travel.

Thomas Hession, head of the Marshals Service's  Los Angeles office, would not comment on specifics of the case but said authorities moved quickly on each lead. "Any time information was developed, the L.A. County district attorney's office and the Marshals Service immediately acted on it."

Three decades after he fled the United States following his arrest for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, Roman Polanski was taken into custody in Zurich this morning and faces extradition to Los Angeles.

Polanski, the famed film director whose career continued to flourish even after fleeing for Europe, was arrested as he arrived in the Swiss city to accept an award at the Zurich Film Festival.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office learned last week that Polanski had plans to travel to Zurich this weekend, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors sent a provisional arrest warrant to the U.S. Justice Department, which presented it to  Swiss authorities. On at least two previous occasions, the district attorney’s office has received reports that Polanski had travel arrangements to countries with extradition treaties with the U.S. and prepared paperwork for his arrest, Gibbons said.

“But in the end, he apparently found out about it and didn’t go,” she said.

A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that the U.S. Marshals Service had come close to arresting Polanski half a dozen times or so over the past few decades -- though several of those opportunities presented themselves in the last two years.

"For one reason or another, it just didn't work out," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing. "There are so many variables."

The source said Polanski always was very careful about when and where he traveled. But as new questions arose in recent years about the fairness of his case, the source said Polanski appeared to become more at ease about travel.

Thomas Hession, head of the Marshals Service's  Los Angeles office, would not comment on specifics of the case but said authorities moved quickly on each lead. "Any time information was developed, the L.A. County district attorney's office and the Marshals Service immediately acted on it."

Asked if prosecutors would ask that Polanski be sentenced to time behind bars if he were returned to the U.S., Gibbons said, “We’ve always maintained this is a matter between Polanski and the court. … We initially recommended prison time for him, but I can’t see into the future.”

An attorney for Polanski, Chad Hummel, declined to comment. “Right now, we’re not in a position to say anything,” he said.

[Updated 1:00 p.m. : In a statement, three Los Angeles attorneys representing Polanski  indicated the arrest came as a surprise. The lawyers have been representing him in an ongoing attempt to have the case against Polanski dismissed on the grounds of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

"We were unaware of any extradition being sought and separate counsel will be retained for those proceedings,” wrote attorneys Douglas Dalton, Chad Hummel and Bart Dalton. Their request to have the 1977 charges against Polanski dismissed is currently pending before the state Court of Appeal.

The organizers of the Zurich Film Festival expressed “great consternation and shock” over Polanski’s arrest and said the program honoring his films would go on in his absence.

 A spokeswoman for the event, Nikki Parker, wrote in an e-mail that neither Polanski nor the organizers considered his legal status in the U.S. an issue in attending the festival because he often traveled to Switzerland and even owned a home there.

“There was no concern whatsoever,” Parker wrote.]

Polanski, now 76 and a married father of two, asked the court to throw out the entire case based on new allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct detailed in an HBO documentary last year. The L.A. district attorney’s office argued that he could not make such a request while a fugitive, and an L.A. judge earlier this year agreed. A 1997 attempt at settling the case also failed.

Polanski was arrested 31 years ago at a Beverly Hills hotel after a 13-year-old girl accused him of sexually assaulting her during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson's house.

A 1978 arrest warrant, issued after he failed to appear at his sentencing on the statutory-rape conviction, is still in effect, and he would be taken into custody upon arrival on U.S. soil. The director of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" has not returned to the U.S. since then but continues to work as a director, winning an Oscar for "The Pianist."

Polanski’s stay in Switzerland could be brief if he opts to return to Los Angeles.

“If he agrees with an extradition, he could be sent to the U.S. in the next days,” said Guido Ballmer, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police.

But if Polanski declines to come back without a fight -- perhaps a more likely scenario given his three decades as a fugitive -- the court process could be quite lengthy, Ballmer told The Times.

The appeals process has several layers and could last months, if not longer. 

-- Harriet Ryan and Andrew Blankstein

Photo credit: A Polanski fan waits for Zurich's Filmfestival. Polanski would have been awarded tonight with the "Golden Eye Award" for his lifework. Ennio Leanza / EPA

More coverage:

Roman Polanski photo gallery

Roman Polanski's attorneys stunned by arrest

Samantha Geimer on being the victim of Polanski and the media

Polanski's extradition to L.A. could take months

Comments

[Steve]

After reading these comments, it is apparent that there are supporters on both sides of this issue. But...

For those that are supporting Polanski outright, and equating the U.S. to a Draconian society for still pursuing Polanski, without any apparent compassion or understanding, you have to remember that the U.S is a country based upon Law, not wanton ideology or social tolerance per se. Polanski's mistake was in fleeing our system of judicial process. Regardless of the reasons for his flight, our system of Laws must seek closure on this issue.

I think its equally ignorant for posters to call Polanski a 'rapist,' 'child molester,' or 'pedophile,' until the case is resolved. He is still innocent until proven guilty by a jury, after all the evidence and arguments have been submitted.

Perhaps now this case can finally be resolved.

[Kevin]

A child rapist gets caught and some of you (you know who you are) are going boo hoo hoo.

For those that have this warped attitude I ask, if someone would druge and rape your 13 year old daughter, ran away like a coward, and went into hiding in Europe, would you have the same boo, hoo hoo attitude if he was to get caught years later? I doubt it very much.

Put the child rapist in his place. General population in a U.S. Prison for life.

[Bob]

They should burn him at the stake to set an example for the rest of the incurable pedophiles in the world. Not one of them can be trusted. I wonder how many others we do not know about that he has victimized.

[Chris - Van]

The fact that there is outrage and consternation about the capture of a pedophile who'd been on the lam for 30 years is pretty sad.

[Chris - Van]

The fact that there is outrage and consternation about the capture of a pedophile who'd been on the lam for 30 years is pretty sad.

[Chris - Van]

The fact that there is outrage and consternation about the capture of a pedophile who'd been on the lam for 30 years is pretty sad.

[Glenn]

I find the America haters / Fellow Travelers who defend this fugitive criminal laughable:

Here's the acid test of the Left's hypocrisy, would they protest the arrest of a KKK member involved in say a gang rape of a black child in the 1970s who fled the country?

Here's the Facts:

According to Wikipedia, "Geimer [the victim] testified that Polanski performed various sexual acts on her after giving her a combination of champagne and quaaludes. Specifically, Geimer's testimony was that Polanski kissed her, performed cunnilingus on her, penetrated her vaginally, and then penetrated her anally, each time after being told 'no' and being asked to stop.

Polanski was initially charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor. These charges were dismissed under the terms of his plea bargain, and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor."

[Anna]

What was the nature of the relationship between Polanski and the 13 year old? Some young girls are innocent, some are older beyond their years.
For legal purposes, it is necessary to set an age limit, but natural purposes depend on each individual.

Posted by: R Anderson | September 28, 2009 at 04:01 AM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you serious? Let me lay this out for you:

Polanski told this 13 year old girl's mother that he was going to do a photo shoot of her for Vogue at Jack Nicholson's house.

Polanski gave her champaign and when she was getting drunk, told her to take her clothes off.

He took her underwear off and performed oral sex on her.

He gave her qualudes.

He raped her vaginally and anally.

When someone came to the door, she got up and put her underwear on. Polanski got rid of the woman at the door and raped the girl again vaginally.

He was charged with 6 felonies.

The girl's mother didn't want to put her child through a trial, so she agreed that the prosecutor could offer a plea deal.

Polanski acknowledged what he did and plead guilty to one felony, unlawful sex with a minor.

Polanski was ordered to a hospital for a psych evaluation to decide whether he would be incarcerated in a mental hospital after his sentence was served, or whether he would be deported. He stayed for 42 days.

Polanski believed that the judge was going to sentence him to prison time instead of probation, so he fled to France, like the lowlife coward that he is.

There have been ongoing court pleading in this case for decades, but the facts still remain the same: Polanski drugged, raped and sodomized a 13 year old girl, plead guilty, but has never been sentenced or served any time. IT'S TIME!!!!

[Butch]

This guy admitted he drugged and sodomized a 13 year old child and then sneaks out of the country and becomes the darling of Europe and left wing Hollywood. If this had been your child it wouldn't make any differance how long it took to put this thing in jail.
If he did this once no telling how many other times he may have done it.

[the Q]

So I guess all you hard nosed conservatives out there who cry out for law and order are all for France extraditing and putting on trial Dick Cheney for sodomizing an entire country - Iraq.

Yeah, thought so you hypocritical infants.

[jmag]

How does Poland reconcile these two articles whose headlines appeared side by side today: Poland supports Roman Polanski's freedom & Poland approves castration for pedophiles.

If Poland promises to follow through with that law- send Roman to Poland.

[Dustin]

The real question here is how has this become an issue that Europeans and Others have used to condemn the United States. How can anyone have a legitimate reason to defend a CHILD RAPIST? He drugged and sodomized a 13 year old. He ran from justice and has been a fugitive under the protection of governments with non-extradition treaties (apparently symapthizers to the cause of rapists?).

So, to the Europeans stunned that we Americans are not stoning eachother in the streets, or that we just love a good lynching, I would make the argument that your arguments are not valid at all. You are defending a molester. You really just hate the U.S. It's too bad really, I am American that has pride in my country. Not saying that this country is perfect, but no one is.

American History for the Forgetful European:

We came from Europe (among other places) to be free from the tyrrany and corruption of European kingdoms. It can be argued that the best people from around the world came to populate this country, the people that were willing to take a chance, that had a belief in making something out of nothing, or I suppose entrepenurial would be a good word.

OUR FIRST PRESIDENT -George Washington- WILLINGLY GAVE UP POWER AFTER TWO TERMS!! Amazing if you really think about it. That started an American Tradition that the rest of the world strives to emulate, however he was first and it is still rare.

Americans-White, Black, and other fought an extremely bloody and nearly nation ending war to end the evil institution of slavery. I will rephrase; Ending slavery is an AMERICAN Accomplishment!

In the 20th century when Europe was becoming extremely radical, Communist, Nazi, etc... When most Europeans (I'm sorry England, I am mainly talking about the French) were content to surrender and wave Nazi Flags. The United States sacrificed nearly every waking moment of every citizen and every available resource to fight total war against the evil that had taken over you.

And Communism IS EVIL. You cannot put the power in the hands of the government! When will you learn that? People must have freedom! To succeed or to fail. That is the only real freedom.

In conclusion-I could go on and on but if you really think about your motivation for your anti-American attitudes. It is clear that you have been brain-washed again by would be leaders that would clearly wish America would fail, and cease to be the shining light on a hill. They wish for a world that allows evil to thrive. I dread the day when we have to fight again for your freedom, because we may not be here anymore, and you will not fight for yourself.

[JAY FELOCIANO]

HANG THE MOTHER AND HANG HIM HIGH

[PETE CAVANNA]

TO BAD YOU DON'T HAVE A 13 YR. OLD DAUGHTER. I WONDER HOW YOU WOULD FEEL IF SHE WAS DRUGGED,RAPED AND SODOMIZED AND THE PERSON WHO DID IT GOT AWAY WITH IT.

[Lisa]

Mr. Polanski drugged & raped a child; and needs to atone for his heinous crimes no matter how many years it's been.
As a country we should never tolerate pedophilia.
Hopefully, he will also be charged with international flight.
It's very sad that Ms Geimer has to relive the horrors.

[Hammer]

These comments are an excellent primer on European attitudes concerning justice. For someone to trivialize drugging, raping, and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl by an affluent film director, does more than strain credulity. It insults anyone with a capacity for reasoning and moral discrimination.

First (Nameless) indicts American media for being "bloodthirsty" for a story. (I'll get back to you on that one as soon as I can stop laughing). Apparently you've missed all the ink spilled over juicy public scandals by such stellar rags as the Daily Mail, Telegraph, and UK News. And your blinding connection that most Americans have bad attitudes because the media is hungry for a story...defies logic. But, you say, since the victim moves on, the crime no longer matters, especially since the rapist Polanski "paid the price" (read: the multi-millionaire with a flourishing international career and homes in several countries had to restrict his travel.) And by the way, stoning people in the streets is happening on your continent, not ours.

And then we have our next lesson on European values by (nameless), who informs us that to incessantly pursue a child drugging rapist is OBVIOUSLY showmanship and career building, and has nothing to do with the horror of the crime! So, (nameless), in your own words the synopsis of justice in your world goes like this:

Because there are a lot of people in jail, we should let child drugging rapists off the hook;

If someone is a famous film director, they shouldn't be prosecuted for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl;

Any child raping crime is a waste of time if it might be thrown out of court, so we should ignore it.

I want to thank you European guardians of the world's moral reservation for being on duty. I feel much safer.

[Andy]

Hmmmm. Interesting how many folks don't seem to mind a child rapist running around free. Hope it's not your kid next time.

[Khrystene]

Well at least it will be over with, once and for all... for both sides.

[stopchildabuse]

He needs to be tried in a court of law.

"Polanski was accused of the rape in 1977 after photographing the teenager during a modelling session. The girl said Polanski plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude sedative pill at Jack Nicholson's house. Polanski was allowed to plead guilty to one of six charges, unlawful sexual intercourse, and was sent to prison for 42 days of evaluation. Lawyers agreed that would be his full sentence, but the judge tried to renege on the plea bargain. Aware the judge would sentence him to more prison time and require his voluntary deportation, Polanski fled to France where he has lived for the past three decades." (timesonline)

[azides]

The guy is a pedophile and was convicted and evaded sentencing, i.e. could also be prosecuted for evading arrest/capture/incarceration. He is of course, on the run and can be compared to someone who broke out of jail; why he was not incarcerated during sentencing I do not know.

He coerced, drugged and raped a CHILD multiple times and was convicted. Of course the victim wants to let it go ... she wants to get on with her life, without the media coverage or the reminders of that unpleasant time. Why would she want to drag it up again when she has adjusted and probably accepted, long ago, that he would never be caught.

Justice now prevails given he escaped that part of the trial, no matter how long ago it was. He should be sentenced for the crime committed and for evading capture.

To those who say he suffered enough, I don't believe he has suffered at all; he has lived a long pleasant life of success and freedom, has been supported by his kind (oddly enough, I doubt any of his supporters would hire a male who had been on the run after raping a child) even though common sense would dictate that one would stay away from such a person, and on the matter of his exile: one would rather live in Europe than LA, or the whole of CA for that matter!

He has had a measure of success as a lovey and has probably lived crime free ever since, (though who knows if he has bought people off, or just hires underage prostitutes), but this does not absolve him of the crime, he needs to be held accountable. If there are mitigating circumstances, they will be considered during sentencing.

Lovies need to realise that they are not above the law.

[azides]

Dustin:

You are wrong in this count: That particular slavery was not first abolished by the Americans ... look up William Wilberforce, MP, UK. He made it a life long cause, as an independent MP and stopped the slave trade, long before the Civil War (#2, #1 was fought between the British and the British in the Americas before the Declaration of Independence was wrought). Prior to this, many nations held slaves and had abolished it.

The Civil War was not about slavery, it was about the power of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which both placed the rights of individual states above that of the federation of states; federal government was always to be small and mostly for the military protection of the union. The states that ceded from the union had not prepared for war, they fully expected that the United States would allow them to secede, as per constitutional rights. Lincoln did not in effect free the slaves until well into the war and this is consistent with the analysis that he did so as to attract the alliance of African Americans in the Confederation in order to win the war; more than 50% of the population of the Confederate States of America were at that time African American.

Additionally, the US did not enter the second world war until near the end, when all parties were rather tired and materially exhausted. The mistake Hitler made was to invade Russia. However, the US did lease materials to the UK and was a pivotal power in the ending of the war. So there is gratitude to the United States for that!

In light of what I have said, I want to say that I am a U.K. citizen who lives in the U.S. and will shortly be a citizen of both countries. I am extremely proud of the U.S. as my home and of my U.K roots. My problem is, not against the U.S. but against the use of history and all countries bend history to change the focus of events. I hope that the U.S. will teach it's history honestly as other countries ought. As an immigrant to the U.S., I have gone out of my way to learn about the history of this fine country and it is an incredible history. I love the United States.

On the other hand I will say that I am disappointed with Old Blighty (Britain), and in some European nations.

[Francis K]

"What is it with the French?"

OJ Simpson... What is it with "Americans"?

[Dangousity]

The U.S. Marshals were not "chasing down a famous film director" They are chasing down a Rapist; He didn't run away and hide for 30 years because he was afraid of a couple more months in jail. There is more to this story. I am glad to hear that the US justice system is able to hold its ground and still go after a fleeing felon year later. He should have been a MAN and taken his punishment, not ran like the dog he is. Throw him in, lose the key.

[Farmer Bob]

Azides:

The United States entered WWII toward the end of 1941, not "until near the end" of the war. While it is incorrect to say, as has often been claimed in this country, that the USA beat the Germans, it is probably correct to say that the US effort determined the outcome of the war. Stalin said US war material -- most notably our trucks, and certainly not our tanks -- made the difference in Russia. Nazi armaments minister, Albert Speer, estimated that 80% of the German war effort went into the fight against Russia, but that allied air raids ground down the Luftwaffe and diverted 900,000 men and a great deal of war material from the eastern front into anti-aircraft battalions.

Meanwhile back at the topic of this thread, the sodomizing, child-molesting, child-drugging, perverted "artist" with a sense of entitlement out of all proportion to decency or the value of his "art," deserves to have his can locked in the can. Just think of it as a way of sending a message to the other elitist pedophiles: "Not no more and never again." And furthermore, with regard to the potential for "stoning" that the European elitists seem to dread in us American peasants; even though I have sinned, I would still be happy to cast the first stone at a pedophile, provided it weighed no less than 10 pounds and I could cast it from a great height.

[xpez2000]

Actually, he should not fear his trial or the proverbial "end of the road".

He has had a wonderful career.... Now is the best time for him to go to jail.

I bet they let him out in a couple of years anyway...

He should just man up to this and take the punishment and get it over with and move on...