Thursday, October 01, 2009

The arrest of Roman Polanski

I have been shocked to hear of the number of people protesting that Roman Polanski should not be prosecuted for the rape of a thirteen year old girl some thirty years ago.

Sorry if this has already been thoroughly discussed on the Internet.

The girl, who is now of course, a woman has forgiven him and would like the charges dropped. I don't see what that has to do with it. Who would want to relive such an experience? She was drugged and raped at the age of thirteen. In fact, I sympathize with what I'm sure is her horror at the thought of having to even talk about it again now.

But there is a larger question here. A question of justice. What kind of society dismisses such a horrible offense simply because the perpetrator managed to avoid prosecution for a long time? What kind of message is sent to pedophiles when a child rapist is excused because of the amount of time that has passed or because he is well respected in his field? He should be prosecuted and sent to jail for a very long time, in my opinion.

He's a child rapist, for heaven's sakes. Do you think the passage of time erased the wound to his victim's heart and soul? I am absolutely horrified that there are people defending this guy.

The French Culture Minister is reported in the L.A. times as saying,
"In the same way that there is a generous America that we like, there is also a scary America that has just shown its face."
A scary America, huh? Like the America that believes in principles of right and wrong? Like the America that thinks that abuse of children should never be excused? What's scary to me is that people could actually sympathize with someone who committed a crime of this magnitude. Now that's scary. Really scary.

Should Roman Polanski be prosecuted? Of course he should. What person with a conscience would think otherwise. Is there anyone reading this who disagrees???

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Polanski is not extradited and prosecuted, other pedophiles will be encouraged to become fugitives as well.

Suzanne said...

Absolutely agree with your post!

Gail said...

I agree with you. It seems as if "artists" get a free pass for behavior that others wouldn't.
What I've found so offensive is remarks by others, including Whoopi Goldberg, about the incident.

Rocky said...

I haven't read this and I'm so dumb I don't even know who this guy is - but it doesn't matter. I agree with you 100%.

Now to go google this article and see what's going on!

Rosemary said...

Anon, yup. It's also conveys the message to other pedophiles and would-be-pedophiles that raping a child is really not all that bad.

Suzanne, yeah. I knew you would :-)

Gail, is it because there is so much depravity among them they've become desensitized?

Alexa, wait till you read about it. It will make you sick. Roman Polanski made the film "The Pianist" and I guess a bunch of others.

Anonymous said...

I think it is disgusting that Polanski was able to evade justice for all those years. He committed a vile crime and he should be bought to account for what he has done. The forgiveness of the victim is all well but the relatives of murder victims can forgive the murderer who killed their loved ones...but...they know that justice still has to be served.

Lyndsie Miles said...

I agree with you, Rosemary! Very disgusting and horrid crime.

Sarah - Kala said...

There should never be a deadline on serving/facing punishment for a crime. Period. A crime means crime. Must pay. The problem is people want to say "it's forgiven; it was a long time ago" . . . but they forget that forgiven does not mean to go w/out penance - an act of contrition. Jail time, in this case, and a large FINE or some sort of restitution.