(Child Rapist) Polanski receives Academy Award statue (from Harrison Ford)

The Associated Press ^ | (September 8, 11:21 a.m. PDT)

[Behind Liberal Lines]

DEAUVILLE, France - Roman Polanski finally took home his Academy Award statue for best director this weekend, nearly six months after winning for "The Pianist."

Harrison Ford, a friend of Polanski and the star of his 1988 movie "Frantic," handed the director the prize Sunday at the Deauville film festival. Ford also had announced Polanski's win at the March 23 ceremony in Los Angeles, which the director didn't attend.

Polanski faces arrest in the United States since pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He was charged with rape and five other felonies in 1977.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, Polanski pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor, then fled Los Angeles for Paris in 1978 to evade sentencing.

The 70-year-old is presiding over the jury at Deauville, on the Normandy coast.

"The Pianist" won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and also earned Oscars for best adapted screenplay and best actor. Adrien Brody starred as Polish-Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, who eluded the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Look at Clinton. In Hollywood (in liberal enclaves everywhere), rape is ok while anti-Communism is not.

[biblewonk]

The girl was 14, as was Juliet when having her affair with Romeo. Girls used to marry at 14; that simply is not the same thing as "child-rape".

I agree. Was it rape because she was "taken" by force or because she is considered too young to have given consent?

[Question_Assumptions]

I think the problem is that the press spins Polanski's crime as "statutory rape", which creates the illusion that what he did was consentual and she was simply under aged. Reading the details changes things a whole lot for many people. You'll notice that the defenses of Polanski stopped once the details started being specified.

[bmwcyle]

And the skum ran from a child rape case. Rape of children in America is out control.

[judywillow]

I'd read several versions of the story previously and this is the first time I've seen the claims made on this thread. If that's really the case, then you're right, the guy's basically an outlaw.

[SauronOfMordor]

The grand jury transcripts have been scanned in and are available at http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskicover1.html

On page 18 is the testimoney regarding Polanski giving her a Quaalude after having given her champaign. The rape begins on page 27. Following is page 30:

In her testimony she was protesting the whole time. He raped her vaginally and anally, while she was too drugged up and frightened of him to physically resist.

And the rape was reported immediately after she got home. This wasn't any "recovered memory" from 10 years later

[dfwgator]

Bottom line is, despite what Polanski did in the past, he deserved the award. The Pianist was an incredible movie, and I don't know if anyone short of Wajda could have pulled it off as well as Polanski did.

[alisasny]

It was a good movie. I thought it was a good movie too. One can only imagine the torment that goes through the mind of Polanski after watching this film. Still, I wish he would face the justice system and not be such a coward.

[Mr. K]

but was your partner over 21?

[angcat]

No that was a typo it was not me that had sex at 12, I was going to make a comment because another freeper said they had sex when they were 12. Oh god please I was a good girl!