I'm no longer a child: Polanski's victim

Woman raped by Roman Polanski in 1977 when she was 13 wants to dismiss case against him; director has been arrested in Switzerland

Woman raped by Roman Polanski in 1977 when she was 13 wants to dismiss case against him; director has been arrested in Switzerland

The alleged victim in a 1977 sexual assault case against director Roman Polanski has filed court papers seeking dismissal of the charges against him.

Samantha Geimer's declaration seeking dismissal was filed in Los Angeles, California, in connection with Polanski's efforts to have the 31-year-old case dismissed.

Polanski was arrested by Swiss police yesterday as he flew in for the Zurich Film Festival and faces possible extradition to the US for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Polanski was scheduled to receive an honorary award at the festival when he was apprehended on Saturday at the airport, the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Troubled Life: Roman Polanski, who won an Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist fled the US before he could be sentenced.

Living in exile

The 75-year-old has lived in exile in France since fleeing the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse.

Polanski admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old girl, and an arrest warrant against him remains in effect.

In her declaration, Geimer said, "I am no longer a 13-year-old child. I have dealt with the difficulties of being a victim, have surmounted and surpassed them with one exception.
u00a0
Every time this case is brought to the attention of the Court, great focus is made of me, my family, my mother and others.

That attention is not pleasant to experience and is not worth maintaining over some irrelevant legal nicety, the continuation of the case."

Geimer, who has spoken about the case before, added, "I have survived, indeed prevailed, against whatever harm Mr Polanski may have caused me as a child."

The Case

In 1977, Polanski was accused of raping the teenager while photographing her during a modeling session.

The girl said Polanski plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill at Jack Nicholson's house while the actor was away. She said that, despite her protests, he performed oral sex, intercourse and sodomy on her.

Polanski was allowed to plead guilty to one of six charges, unlawful sexual intercourse, and was sent to prison for 42 days of evaluation.