The arrest of director Roman Polanski at his home in Switzerland several days ago has all the ingredients necessary for tabloid staying power: Illicit sex, flight to avoid sentencing and a Hollywood director haunted by horror and violence in his own past. Despite all these juicy tidbits, the big question now being asked is: Why did the U.S. pick this particular point in time, over thirty years after the crime, to finally nab Polanski?
There is no doubt that Polanski committed the crimes in question. Certainly, no reasonable person would ever infer that it is acceptable for an adult to have sex with a 13-year-old child, even if she claimed it was consensual. No child has the emotional or legal wherewithal to make that kind of a decision. However, 30 years is a long time for no great effort to be made on the part of law enforcement to bring him to justice. He spent the entire summer in Switzerland, presumably not for the first time. So, why now?
Some postulate that an an appeal by Polanski last December to have his case dismissed on the grounds of misconduct by prosecutors angered law enforcement. I wonder, though, if something else didn't prompt this raid on an unpunished child molester. Something like, perhaps, the Jaycee Lee Dugard case.
This young woman was held for 18 years in the backyard of Phillip Garrido, a convicted sex offender on lifetime federal parole after serving a sentence of 17 years for kidnapping and rape. Not only was she kept in the same state in which she was kidnapped, but she was very literally right under the noses of local police, who ostensibly never stopped looking for her. Not only that, Garrido's parole officer visited the home on several occasions and never suspected a thing. To top it all off, a neighbor claims that he knew about the girls in Garrido's yard, told the cops, and nothing was done. Hmmm.
Could it be that authorities could be trying to polish their tarnished star with the arrest of another, more high-profile sex offender? Why are they pushing for a sentence of 15-50 years, when Garrido was released after only 17, and he had a kidnapping charge tacked on, as well? Why indeed, especially when the victim herself says she has no interest in seeing Polanski jailed.
Putting Polanski behind bars at this late date doesn't seem to serve any purpose except to create a circus so that some law enforcement personnel and prosecuting attorneys can make a name for themselves. He's obviously not a danger, so why bother? He is, however, rich. If he is to be punished, -and why shouldn't he be?- why not slap him with a fine of $100 million or so to set up a program to counsel victims of sexual abuse? Here's another idea: Ask his victim what she thinks about an apt punishment. Has anyone yet though of that?
There is no doubt that Polanski committed the crimes in question. Certainly, no reasonable person would ever infer that it is acceptable for an adult to have sex with a 13-year-old child, even if she claimed it was consensual. No child has the emotional or legal wherewithal to make that kind of a decision. However, 30 years is a long time for no great effort to be made on the part of law enforcement to bring him to justice. He spent the entire summer in Switzerland, presumably not for the first time. So, why now?
Some postulate that an an appeal by Polanski last December to have his case dismissed on the grounds of misconduct by prosecutors angered law enforcement. I wonder, though, if something else didn't prompt this raid on an unpunished child molester. Something like, perhaps, the Jaycee Lee Dugard case.
This young woman was held for 18 years in the backyard of Phillip Garrido, a convicted sex offender on lifetime federal parole after serving a sentence of 17 years for kidnapping and rape. Not only was she kept in the same state in which she was kidnapped, but she was very literally right under the noses of local police, who ostensibly never stopped looking for her. Not only that, Garrido's parole officer visited the home on several occasions and never suspected a thing. To top it all off, a neighbor claims that he knew about the girls in Garrido's yard, told the cops, and nothing was done. Hmmm.
Could it be that authorities could be trying to polish their tarnished star with the arrest of another, more high-profile sex offender? Why are they pushing for a sentence of 15-50 years, when Garrido was released after only 17, and he had a kidnapping charge tacked on, as well? Why indeed, especially when the victim herself says she has no interest in seeing Polanski jailed.
Putting Polanski behind bars at this late date doesn't seem to serve any purpose except to create a circus so that some law enforcement personnel and prosecuting attorneys can make a name for themselves. He's obviously not a danger, so why bother? He is, however, rich. If he is to be punished, -and why shouldn't he be?- why not slap him with a fine of $100 million or so to set up a program to counsel victims of sexual abuse? Here's another idea: Ask his victim what she thinks about an apt punishment. Has anyone yet though of that?
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