Got Justice?
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Thanks to Deb for highlighting this article on director Roman Polanski, who fled the US in the 60s while on trial for raping a 13-year-old.
An interesting comment from the now-grown victim in the case:
"He did something really gross to me, but it was the media that ruined my life."
Thankfully I think the laws have changed regarding media treatment of rape victims and minors during legal proceedings. Still, I think about how Michael Jackson's accuser has spent his life in hiding ever since the trial, fleeing not so much the media as the rabid fans who constantly threaten him. It's crazy; the price of pursuing justice is high.
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Thanks to Deb for highlighting this article on director Roman Polanski, who fled the US in the 60s while on trial for raping a 13-year-old.
An interesting comment from the now-grown victim in the case:
"He did something really gross to me, but it was the media that ruined my life."
Thankfully I think the laws have changed regarding media treatment of rape victims and minors during legal proceedings. Still, I think about how Michael Jackson's accuser has spent his life in hiding ever since the trial, fleeing not so much the media as the rabid fans who constantly threaten him. It's crazy; the price of pursuing justice is high.
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posted by Anonymous at
11:55 AM
5 Comments:
tell me about it. ask joe.
I'm no expert on this case but based on both the testimony of the victim and the whole probation report which includes some of the evidence available to the judge/probation officer, I think there's some doubt as to what the facts are in this case re: rape. (Available at Smoking Gun website) No doubt re: having sex with an underage minor and none re: fleeing the country to avoid sentencing, which brought about the very publicity for the victim that the family and probation officer were trying to avoid for the child. Susan E
I'm really surprised by how many people still defend him.
in the grand jury testimony the young girl repeatedly asked polanski to take her home and repeatedly said, "no, no, no" as he raped her.
and he first got her to drink alcohol by having her pose for photos (the reason they were meeting---he told her he could get her into french Vogue and jumpstart her acting career) with champagne. so this impressionable thirteen year old basically was told that drinking the champagne was part of the job.
by the time she was really drunk, he gave her quaaludes.
then he told her to take off her clothes, which she did, even though she was pretty certain that was a bad idea. when asked why she did it, she said, "because i was all alone, far from home, and i was scared of him." basically, she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't listen to this adult who had complete control.
then, once she was naked and drunk and high, he raped her, even though she kept saying no and kept begging him to take her home.
in my mind, based on her testimony, if we choose to believe her, which i do, it was rape. entirely.
and let's say we criticize the girl for taking the champagne, taking the quaalude, agreeing to take her clothes off for the shoot. some people would call that consent. as my friend jess said, "at the age of thirteen i was pretty certain i had decent shot at dating Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block. thirteen year olds can't make sophisticated decisions. they just can't. so implying that any thirteen year old could give informed, mature consent in such a situation is just bunk." i have to agree with jess.
Re CJ's comment: I 100% totally agree. The inability of a 13-year-old to successfully stand up for herself is exactly why there is such a thing as an age of consent. I know a LOT of people who found themselves in situtions, as teenagers, that they never actually wanted to be in.
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