Roman Polanski 1970s sexual assault lawsuit dismissed
French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States decades ago after admitting to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old, will no longer face trial over an alleged assault of another minor after reaching a settlement, his lawyer said on Oct. 22.
The latest case against the director of "The Pianist," which concerned an alleged sexual attack in 1973, had been due in civil court in Los Angeles next August, but has now been withdrawn, Polanski's U.S. attorney told AFP.
The case was "settled in the summer to the parties' mutual satisfaction and has now been formally dismissed," Alexander Rufus-Isaacs said in an email.
The suit, filed last year, claimed Polanski took a then-teenager, named anonymously in filings as Jane Doe, to dinner at a restaurant in Los Angeles in 1973.
He allegedly gave her tequila, and when she began to feel dizzy, drove her to his home, where he forced himself on her.
"She told him: 'please don't do this,'" the plaintiff's lawyer, Gloria Allred, told reporters in March.
"She alleges that he ignored her pleas. She also alleges that defendant Polanski proceeded to sexually assault her, causing her tremendous physical, emotional pain and suffering."
The civil suit, which sought unspecified damages, was filed in June 2023, just before the expiration of a California law that allowed for an extended window for claims against the alleged perpetrators of sexual crimes.
Court papers filed in California in July said a "conditional" accord had been reached.
Allred said in an email late Tuesday that "a settlement of claims was agreed to by the parties to their mutual satisfaction."
Oscar-winner Polanski, now 91, is a divisive figure, with some in the movie world hailing his...
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