RESPONSE TO A COLUMN IN THE TELEGRAPH
Polanski, of course, did not only have sex with a 13-year old girl, what Americans call “statutory rape.”
His lawyers at the time managed to cop a plea for that much lesser charge (plea bargains are an everyday ugly fact of American "justice"), and, still, he ran from justice.
Polanski is a real coward as well as a serious criminal.
A man who drugs a 13-year old girl and rapes her - sodomizing her - clearly deserves jail.
There always was a very dark side to Polanski, perhaps best exhibited in his early film “Repulsion.”
France's long protection of him from justice has likely hurt a number of people over the years. Violent pedophiles are never reformed. It's in the genes.
I have been an admirer of Polanski's work, but the claim that being a creative figure exempts you from punishment for ugly deeds is an extremely dangerous one.
You can be a creative force and a criminal, and Polanski is a perfect example of the fact.
