http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_550546.html
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What's your feeling about all this?
Personally I'm ambivalent. The rape of a child is extremely serious and there should also not be a two tier justice system, with the rich and famous escaping punishment but ordinary people being made to pay for their crimes. But his age and the wishes of the victim also make pursuing this seem slightly pointless to me. Hrm.
He still broke the law. I think he should at least serve his original sentence, and additional time for leaving the country.
I personally don't think it should matter how old he is or what the victim thinks. He managed to circumvent the law for decades and now we're supposed to take pity on him because he's old??? He should feel so lucky that he managed to avoid his due this long and live the healthiest years of his life outside of jail. I understand that the victim does not want to be drawn into the public eye, but she doesn't have to be for Polanski to be punished, and justice is about what SOCIETY deems unacceptable to its collective functioning- not just one person.
It matters in terms of the likelihood of reoffending and also on compassionate grounds, at least in my view, when the offender is also infirm (depending on the crime and surrounding circumstances, of course).
I know criminals are punished on behalf of the state, but my personal view is that the victim should have some say - though not the whole say - in the process. It only happens to a small degree at present (via victim impact statements), but I'd like to see that widened.
If you are ambivalent about his punishment, I highly recommend reading the court transcripts.
There's a particular moment when the lawyers asked the victim to explain what was done to her.
She said he performed "cuddliness"...the lawyer asked what she meant by that, and she said he put his mouth on her vagina.
That was such a pathetic moment for me. She was so young she didn't even know the correct word for cunnilingus, and he raped her vagina, mouth, and ass.
I'm sure she'd like to never be asked about it again. No rape victim does. But the truth is, he's a monster who raped a child. He shouldn't get away with it.
Child rapist, deserves a trip to the general population of one of Cali's finer prisons. He'll make some dude a nice b*tch.
I'd seriously break the old man's hip if he laid one hand on my child. And then shove it up his ass.
Don't think he would re offend huh? I would bet my last dollar that he has done this MANY times since then and many times before this happened.
I read the transcript too. It is really disturbing and gross. "Would you want me to go in through the back" since she wasn't on birth control after she had already said no.
He fled the country to avoid prosecution. I hope he gets time.
Here are the transcripts of the victim's testimony:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskia1.html (pages 1-18 )
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskib1.html (pages 19-36)
Full transcripts can be found here:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...nskiplea1.html