Roman Polanski’s Arrest: Bad for Hollywood, Good for Victims

Hollywood rallies around the sex-offender, while rape victims find vindication.

-Jane Farrell

The arrest of movie director Roman Polanski late last week, on charges stemming from his rape of a 13-year-old girl, is a positive signal for victims of similar ordeals, an expert tells BettyConfidential.com.

“Psychologically, this arrest is good for victims of rape,” says Nancy Brooks, Ph.D., a Mental-Health expert on JustAnswer.com with extensive experience in working with victims of trauma. “Rape survivors identify with this international case because they want justice for fellow victims … One way women have reported feeling safer is when they know that rapists are punished for their crimes.”

Polanski, 76, pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with the girl, but in January 1978 fled the United States after he made the deal, believing the judge in the case would give him a tougher sentence than he expected.

Since then, Polanski, who has both French and Polish citizenship, has lived in Europe and continued his career as a respected director. In fact, he was arrested and jailed in Switzerland, which has an extradition treaty with the U.S., as he was getting ready to receive a lifetime-achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival.

“Free Polanski” posters quickly appeared at the film festival. Government officials in France issued outraged statements (though they later toned them down). A petition asking that Polanski be sprung from jail was signed by Hollywood big shots including directors Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and Woody Allen, as well as producer Harvey Weinstein, who referred to the rape as “the so-called crime.” And Whoopi Goldberg weighed in with her now-infamous comment on The View, “It wasn’t rape rape.”

But the teenager’s grand jury testimony, parts of which were published this week in the Los Angeles Times, paints a frightening picture of her ordeal, which began after Polanski took photographs of her. As Polanski sexually assaulted her, the girl testified, “I was going, ‘No. Come on. Stop it.’ But I was afraid.” According to the testimony, the girl repeatedly asked Polanski to take her home, but he did not.