--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchy...@...> wrote: > > Polanski made a few good movies. So what. I suspect his sudden arrest > probably has some political motivation, it sure takes the air out of the > health care debate, doesn't it? Polanski never did time for his crime just > like Ted Kennedy never did time for his. Money and privilege get folks off > the hook, same old story. Kennedy didn't stop drinking excessively after Mary > Jo died. I doubt Polanski never raped another little girl, we just haven't > heard about it. He was free as a bird to travel anywhere in to the world to > satisfy his predatory passions and we'll never know the extent of human > wreckage he may have caused. Once a child rapist, always a child rapist. > Whether his victim forgives him or not doesn't matter. The law should never > forgive him. Comparing the relative damage of his crime with the damage of > the media to his victim is an apple and oranges comparison and has nothing to > do with Polanski's crime. It's just a stupid PR excuse to defend the > indefensible.
Well said, raunchydog. It sums up the whole sordid affair quite succintly and serves as the opposite end argument to the pedophile-enabling post by the ex-pat. > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, eustace10679 <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > "In a television interview, she did not exonerate Polanski for the way in > > which he had taken advantage of her â" "what he did to me was wrong" â" > > but she did say that she had felt more damaged by the media's subsequent > > handling of her case than by what had happened to her at the time." > > > > ================== > > (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/28/roman-polanski-arrested-ignores-victim) > > > > Those who arrested Roman Polanski have ignored his victim > > > > The woman sexually assaulted as a child will suffer even more if the case > > comes to court. Only the lawyers will win > > > > The most important person in the story of Roman Polanski's arrest in > > Switzerland at the weekend is Samantha Gailey, a middle-aged bookkeeper > > living quietly with her family in Hawaii. In 1977, as a 13-year-old in > > Hollywood, Gailey was given champagne and drugs by the director, who then > > had sex with her. > > > > Polanski, who was then aged 44, pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a > > minor, spent 42 days in prison in Chino, California, and was due to be > > sentenced to time served when it became clear that the deal his lawyers had > > negotiated with the prosecution was not to be honoured â" and he would > > have had to spend much more time in jail than had been agreed. He fled the > > United States in 1978 and has never returned. > > > > Seven years ago, after Polanski had won an Oscar for his film The Pianist, > > the case came once again under scrutiny in the US. Gailey was tracked down > > to her home in Hawaii where she had settled with her husband and three > > children. In a television interview, she did not exonerate Polanski for the > > way in which he had taken advantage of her â" "what he did to me was > > wrong" â" but she did say that she had felt more damaged by the media's > > subsequent handling of her case than by what had happened to her at the > > time. > > > > "What happened that night, it's hard to believe," she said at the time, > > "but it paled in comparison to what happened in the next year of my life > > ⦠He did something really gross to me but it was the media that ruined my > > life." As to what punishment she felt Polanski should now suffer, she said: > > "He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it." > > > > Gailey, who waived her anonymity when she gave the interview, has made > > similar comments whenever the case has been discussed. Last year she > > repeated her comments when she attended the New York premiere of the > > documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. She was and remains the > > victim in this case; and no amount of mentions of the fact that "it was the > > 70s" and people did things differently then can excuse the fact that a man > > three times her age had sex with a 13-year-old when she was under the > > influence of drink and drugs. > > > > But, as Gailey has said herself, Polanksi has been punished. He lost what > > was, at the time, a glittering career in Hollywood. He has been publicly > > humiliated. His name is associated by many people as much with that sex > > offence as with all his cinematic achievements, from Rosemary's Baby and > > Chinatown to Tess and The Pianist. He has also suffered separately in ways > > that few people who stand in judgment of him can understand, in that his > > then wife, Sharon Tate â" who was eight months pregnant with their child > > â" was murdered in vile circumstances by the Charles Manson gang in 1968. > > > > What will be served by Polanski being extradited to the US to stand trial? > > Gailey will have her privacy invaded once more as the details of the case, > > already posted in prurient detail around the world, receive more coverage. > > The case itself is already mired in confusion as a result of allegations of > > judicial misconduct at the original trial and is unlikely to have a swift > > conclusion. Some lawyers will benefit, but who else? > > > > Of course there are many cases of offenders who have evaded the courts for > > years and who should still be forced to face trial, even if they are old > > and the decades have passed. War criminals (whether Nazis, or torturers > > from Latin America), predatory sex offenders and murderers should always > > have to live in fear of the tap on the shoulder and answer to their crimes. > > There are countless occasions when the extradition laws can and should be > > used. > > > > But extradition should be employed when the case merits it. We are already > > familiar with the attempts made by the US authorities to extradite the > > British computer hacker Gary McKinnon for the victimless offence of > > embarrassing the US military's computer system. Compassion should have come > > into play there too, both from the US authorities and Britain's home > > secretaries. As for the suggestion that the Swiss authorities have a > > reputation for punctilious attention to legal niceties, it has not stopped > > them in the past from protecting the private bank accounts of many a > > dictator or financial criminal. > > > > The real victim in this case has called for compassion. But compassion is > > unfashionable at the moment, so the chances of her voice prevailing may not > > be great. The desire to exact punishment, regardless of how the actual > > victim is affected by it, and to justify that punishment with some > > grandstanding rhetoric, is the fashion of the moment. Child sex, like the > > Middle East, is a subject where the normal conventions of debate degenerate > > very swiftly into name-calling and deliberate misinterpretat ion. There is > > no reason to believe that this case will be any different. But the victim > > still has a right to be heard, even if what she says does not satisfy those > > seeking vengeance. > > > > Many commenters have simply used the term 'rape' in relation to Roman > > Polanski's 1977 conviction. The offence he pleaded guilty to is often > > described as 'statutory rape' but more precisely as 'unlawful sexual > > intercourse with a minor'. > > >
