G'Day All,
If I have read the news article correctly then:-
Polanski admits to the "alledged" offence
The 'alledged" offence occurred in 1977
The international warrant for the "alledged" offender was issued in 1978
Why then has it taken 30 years to catch up to him?
Who by or How has this warrant been over-looked for 30 years?
No Statute of Limitations means exactly that and applies to Murder, Kidnap and Abduction and Statutory Rape.
Anyone that commits any of the for-mentioned crimes should be well aware that if any of these crimes catch up to you then it is as if the crime has just been committed
I have seen this gender war on the other threads then where are the women that should be asking:-
What about the young girl at the centre of this "alledged" offence?
How has all this fame of the "alledged" offender affected her?
What is her position on all this?
Further:- Now that she may get her day in Court what is it doing to her to see these Governments rushing to the aid of the "alledged" offender does she not have rights as well?
Does not the now woman count in all this?
Thanks have a good life from Dave

PS not a mention today so far, quickly removed from eyesight.

dwg,

There was a news item on Channel 9 last night in which it was claimed that the victim in this case, a now 45-year-old woman, had forgiven Polanski. I think the newscast named her.

This link, http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/868448/polanski-arrested-on-1978-us-warrant , included the following text as of around 8:00 AM today:

"The woman named as the victim in the 1970s case had joined defence lawyers in urging the dismissal of the case against Polanski."

and,

"Polanski's legal team argued that the conviction should be annulled because the judge who heard his case in the 1970s had improperly colluded with prosecutors. The judge has since died.

The challenge was made after the allegation of misconduct emerged in a documentary released last year "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired."

[US] Judge Peter Espinoza said this year that while he believed there had been "substantial misconduct" in the case, Polanski's attempts to dismiss the charges would not be heard as long as he remained a fugitive from justice."

Without even touching upon the issue of statutory rape in either this case or in general, there are now clearly issues that transcend this claimed pursuit of justice on the part of US prosecutors. Things like 'abuse of due process', 'offended dignity', 'arrogance', 'cover-up', and 'bullying at the highest level' come to mind. Things we see far too often these days among those who wield executive authority, that threaten not only to degrade the quality of justice overall, but left unchecked, threaten all our liberties.

Grandstanding.

I'm surprised the US Secretary of State has not already intervened in the interests of both the nation, and preservation of the quality of justice, to terminate this charade.

As to any howling mob? General Dyer. Amritsar. 1919. Jarlian Wallah. Machine guns. And this time with artillery as well! (Asked at his subsequent Court-Martial why he had used machine guns on the crowd, Dyer is alleged to have answered 'because I had no artillery, Sir!')

How abuse of process bites back.

Sue:”Come on guys! These laws were made for a purpose.
Would you be happy with even more girls under 16 being mothers, because that is one of the consequences of having a blase attitude to underage sex?”

Hey Suze, I don’t think it blasé as much as very realistic. We have the laws and an 18 year old might end up in court for sleeping with a 15 year old but a judge is likely to let him walk out. Our 15 year old girls can get contraception and abortions without parents knowing (that is legal for a reason)… because in reality they are sexually active and the boyfriends at that age range from around 15 – 22 years old.

Umm... yeah those are my approximate numbers from my personal observations of teens.[smile]

Judges job to work out the individual circumstances?

Polanski admitted the offence and tried to plea bargain to a lower penalty. His lawyers claimed a technical breach of process allegedly because the judge disregarded a claimed acceptance of a plea bargain.

What the victim now thinks of the offender is irrelevant. She has moved on and of course she would rather it was all quietly put to rest at this stage. Exhuming the case causes her more harm but there is a greater good in demonstrating that perpetrators of serious crimes will always be pursued.

The spin makes the US justice system the persecutor and the girl a youthful vamp. Polanski is portrayed the victim who has suffered many challenges in his life but brought entertainment to millions.

It is to be expected that Polanski's supporters would try to muddy the waters with spin. Polanski is a powerful person and he has consistently shown that hell will freeze over before he is held to account.

It is right to keep the unsolved and unresolved case files for serious crimes open forever. Would-be perpetrators need to understand that they will always be pursued and regardless of their power or standing in the community justice will be served.

Thanks Forrest
I had not seen that article & after reading it,
It is the pursuit of the "Statutory Rape"(sex with an under 14 year old) that the US prosecuters are chasing then, after reading that article it would appear that this is the only side they now have.
If this is all they have to pursue after this time and the woman has moved on without any hang-ups then it should be "let dead dogs lie"
TPP you are right with the 18 year olds
There was a case here that friends of mine were involved in 18 year old boy 14 year old girl they both spoke to me together and alone
Thier answers to me were, they were a couple and they both gave me the answers that 18-14? but 24-20 what was the problem they had set themselves on being together and after 3 years they still are and are as an affectionate to each other as they were 3 years ago
I had to turn back time to many of the old marriages and found that most men were24-26 woman 18-20
Now before the blokes jump on my case and the shielas jump hooray for a chauvenist to admit this it has been fairly well accepted that a woman matures mentally and physically at a much younger age than a male usually by about a 5-6 year difference on average so I had to relax my views.
Thanks all Have a good life from Dave

"Hey Suze, I don’t think it blasé as much as very realistic. We have the laws and an 18 year old might end up in court for sleeping with a 15 year old but a judge is likely to let him walk out. Our 15 year old girls can get contraception and abortions without parents knowing (that is legal for a reason)… because in reality they are sexually active and the boyfriends at that age range from around 15 – 22 years old."

Agreed Jewely.

So then in response to suze, this sort of technically pedophilic illegal activity has most definitely got to be treated very differently to that of the sort perpetrated by Dennis Ferguson.

"Would you like to have the law changed?"

No, not really. Although if I had a close look I'd probably desire a few minor changes. The point is, and I think you now agree, that we cannot dare to have anything like a blanket penalty for anything that falls under the banner of pedophilia.