Roman Polanski sexual abuse case

Rare card · No. 20349

On March 10, 1977, Roman Polanski, a 43-year-old film director, was arrested and charged in Los Angeles with six offenses against Samantha Gailey (now Geimer), a 13-year-old girl: unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. At his arraignment, Polanski pleaded not guilty to all charges, but later accepted a plea bargain whose terms included dismissal of the five more serious charges in exchange for a guilty plea to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Polanski underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, and was placed on probation. However, upon learning that he was likely to face imprisonment and subsequent deportation, Polanski became a fugitive from justice hours before he was due to be formally sentenced, fleeing first to England and then to France in February 1978. Since then, Polanski has mostly...

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