AP, Are you for real?  It’s bad enough when they tried to blame me when I was raped at 19 many years ago - Why was I there alone?  What was I wearing, what did I say that provoked them? - but you actually think you can put a 13 year-old in an adult situation and expect them to not only understand all that is going on around them, but to have the ability to empower themselves against a 44 year old man?

Rape isn’t about sex. It isn’t even about the girl/woman or her clothes or her make-up.  It’s about power… period.  A 13-year old simply isn’t equipped.

And this bit about "it was the time we lived in…" is getting to be a tired argument for me.  Believe me, there was a cross-section of folks overlooking this type of behavior, but it was not the norm.  Besides, these people were products of the 40s and 50s, you can’t tell me that something in the back of their minds still wasn’t setting off bells, telling them that they were doing something that society wouldn’t condone. 

The woman has now "forgiven", but she has not forgotten - I have no problem with letting the woman move on.  However, the law can not forgive because there are criminals of every kind out there, hiding from the law, right now.  If we forgive and forget once, how about doing it again?  Why not forgiving and forgetting for a man who savagely beat his wife?  And then, why not a man who raped his daughter?  Or a woman who ran over her husband with a car?  Maybe forgive all crimes as long as they weren’t murders?  Well, if we’ve done that, why not forgive anyone who’s committed a crime and has managed to evade police for 30 years or more?  20 years or more?  Where would it end?  It’s a slippery slope, AP…  We have laws for reasons - to protect all of us.  In a society, we must all follow the laws or it all falls apart… Our system isn’t perfect, Jeez, it’s  not even close, but it’s a perpetual work in progress and it’s all we’ve got.

As for your last sentence… I got nothing… sorry the life you know and the things you’ve seen have evidently led you to such a cynical view of justice and law enforcement.  I’ve seen the other side and let me offer you a bit of hope - there really are more good cops out there than bad… really…

Exactly! 13 year old girls are also bulletproof and indestructible (or so they think!). No girl that young makes great decisions. But the reason I didn’t get myself into bad situations was not because of the laws that are there to protect me, it was because of my Mom. And there is no way in hell she would have just dropped me off at some mansion for a "photo shoot". He should be held accountable for what he did, but then so should her Mom.

Hey Lindy: 

I believe she was there for a photo shoot with RP as the photographer.  Well, apparently RP decided he’d "get a better shot", if he gave her alcohol and drugs.  The question is "A better shot at what"?  But although he got what amounted to a slap on the wrist (considering the crime was stat. rape) he decided to flee the country.  Nice guy.  Oh by the way, he also NEVER paid the compensation he agreed to - to the victim.  But what the hey, he’s a talented director, why shouldn’t we condone stat. rape, God knows Hollywood is in dire need of directors.  Also, you must remember, in those days the "bad boys" of Hollywood were considered kind of cute and sexy, after all: "boys will be boys".  The fact that this bad boy drugged and raped a child apparently was not so significant.

BTW, Shera, I don’t know what world you were living in back three decades ago, or what moral values were instilled in your head and heart, but 13 year-olds were still children and minors back then. IT WAS NOT acceptable for them - girls or boys to be lured via drugs or whatever means to have sex with older men or women, who all knew better!  Anyone who has ever raised children know that teenagers "think" they know everything, but that is when in society, adults are suppose to step-up to society’s laws and standards, live by example, protect our youth by being bound by the very laws written to protect the underage - even as the children are growing and starting to look more like an adult!

Roman Polanski was not above the law then nor is he now.  Justice must be served; he owes it to his victim and to society.  Otherwise, the world will have lost it’s value of our youngest members of society.  This case will certainly echo the message loud and clear to the value we place on our youth and the enforcement of law to those devious enough to commit such criminal acts. It must be is acted upon accordingly! Shame on anyone who doesn’t want to protect the world’s youth against such crimes by ANYONE especially the so-called elite group, who often feels they are members of "priviledge".