Roman Polanski sex assault victim Samantha Geimer urges judge to end 40-year case
The Oscar-winning director fled to France in 1978 before he was due to be sentenced for having unlawful sex with a minor.
Saturday 10 June 2017 05:55, UK
A woman sexually assaulted by film director Roman Polanski when she was 13 years old has pleaded with a judge to end the case so she can get on with her life.
Samantha Geimer urged Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon to either dismiss the case outright or sentence Polanski without him being present.
The director fled to France in 1978 before he was due to be sentenced for having unlawful sex with a minor.
Prosecutors had dropped charges that he drugged, raped and sodomised the 13-year-old, but Polanski feared the judge was going to go back on the plea deal he had struck.
"I would implore you to do this for me, out of mercy for myself," Ms Geimer, now aged 54, said. "I am not speaking on behalf of Roman, but justice.
"I implore you to consider to resolve this matter without incarcerating an 83-year-old man."
Polanski's lawyers have been trying to end the case and international efforts to arrest him for years.
He was unable to up his 2002 best director Oscar for The Pianist because he feared arrest if he returned to the US.
Ms Geimer has previously said she forgives Polanski for the assault, which took place at Jack Nicholson's home in the Hollywood Hills during a March 1977 photo shoot.
She sued Polanski and reached a settlement in 1993 for $500,000.