Well, that took long enough.
In 1977, Polanski was arrested and charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. The charges were beyond gross: rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor.
The famed director of such films as “Chinatown” and “The Pianist” fled America 40 years ago to avoid going to prison.
Since then, he’s hunkered down in countries that won’t extradite him. And he’s dodged any real punishment for his crimes.
But now the 84 year old finds himself back in the sights of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD told the British newspaper The Sun they now have an “open investigation” into the convicted child rapist. The new probe comes as seven new accusers have come forward to say that Polanski raped or sexually assaulted them.
They included California artist Marianne Barnard, who bravely spoke to Sun Online and accused Polanski of molesting her on a beach in Malibu when she was just ten years old.
She said she had reported the alleged crime to LAPD’s sex crime unit last month.
The 77-year-old broke her silence after more than 40 years saying he is a “predator” who must pay for his crimes.
Marianne Barnard says she was sexually abused by Polanski when she was just 10 years old. “And five anonymous women alleged they had been sexually abused by Polanski via Imetpolanski.com, a website set up by women’s rights organisation Real Women Real Stories where victims can share their stories,” The Sun reports.
The alleged assaults took place between 1969 and 1976 and all of the women were then just girls between the ages of 9 and 16.
LAPD confirmed that Polanski was being investigated as a suspect in a police report but could not give further details due to victim confidentiality.
“Yes there is an open investigation on Roman Polanski,” a spokesperson said.
“As of right now I can’t confirm if it’s the fifth, sixth or seventh victim coming forward.”
“We can’t release any other information because it’s confidential due to the type of crime it is but he is listed as a suspect in a police report and it’s an open investigation.”
“Of course anyone that comes forward wanting to make a police report listing him as a suspect — it’s always going to be investigated.”