Chris, you hit the nail on the head here. Many years ago, there was a thirteen year old girl who ended up in a situation way beyond her ability to make a decision, or escape. She may have been thrust into this situation by circumstances beyond her control - I seem to recall tha her mother was in part responsible for setting up the "photo shoot" with Polanski as a way to advance her daughter’s possible show business career. Whatever. The point you made is what we need to focus on. There was a thirteen year old who was given alcohol and drugs and subjected to sexual predation. It was rape.

Polanski’s own life, as we all know, was no bed of roses: surviving the Holocaust by living on the streets, in hiding, as a mere child himself; losing his mother at Auschwitz; losing his wife and their soon-to-be-born child to the brutal, murderous Manson gang … it’s not a life without horrors that could warp even a strong character. But that’s not the issue. The issue is that thirteen year old girl.

Polanski is a cinematic genius, to be sure. His Chinatown is near-perfect, a true classic. But … the thirteen year old girl.

So what should happen now? I would urge Mr. Polanski to come back here and do what any other man accused of this crime would have to do when finally arrested: face it. I’m not convinced a jail sentence is what is called for, but some form of community service and counseling would not be amiss. The young girl involved has herself said that there would be no purpose in jailing him. I believe that the monetary settlement out of court was reached years ago between Polanski and his victim, as you indicates, Chris. Not that that should temper the legal responsibility in the least.

It is also a little galling that so many international intelligentsia (and I use the term rather loosely!) have decided to use this case as a means of deriding the American justice system. Maybe Polanski DID draw a judge who wasn’t the best, but it is now time to come back and deal with this situation once and for all. The more he delays and resists, the more difficult it will be for him in the long run, and he’s already been running a long, long time. 

I am with you, 1000%, Tanya. Abuse does not end with the initial pain, it grows and grows and if victims can afford psychotherapy, the costs are astronomical, for at least 15 years to obtain relief and help to ‘move on,’ but reality does not change.

Few people have even a modicum of understanding about the enormous harm that abuse imparts, not only to the victim but society in general, not to forget what it does to victim’s ever-expanding circle of influence… nothing is free of the insidious impact that abuse brings in to someone’s life—all relationships are affected, quite unknowingly — until, and if, therapy is effective.

This includes children who suffer any and all forms of abuse, victims of crimes, any abuse in which someone takes advantage of another.  Victims of crimes must have ongoing support by our society, and not abandoned to recover alone.

Abuse in our society is endemic - from the top down, it is everywhere. Merely withholding health care from our people is highly absusive.