Samantha Geimer, the woman Roman Polanski was convicted of sexually assaulting in 1977, appeared in court in Los Angeles on Friday to ask the judge to dismiss the case or sentence the director in absentia.
“It just wasn’t as traumatic for me as everyone would like to believe it was,” Geimer, 54, said during a Friday press conference after exiting the courthouse. “I was a young, sexually active teenager, and it was a scary thing, but it was not an uncommon thing.”
Geimer, who was 13 when the crime took place, said she doesn’t agree with people who say Polanski hasn’t yet been brought to justice.
“I feel that they’re wrong, and he’s served his sentence,” she said. “He pled guilty, and he’s done everything he needed to do. Since 1978 when this unfolded, I felt that it was unfair, and it was being handled improperly by the court at that time, and I have wished for resolution since that day.”
Geimer said she didn’t see Polanski as a pedophile: “I was almost 14 — I wasn’t 10.”
The Best Director Oscar-winner of “The Pianist” was indicted in 1977 on five charges, including “rape by use of drugs” and “furnishing a controlled substance to a minor,” after having sex with then-13-year-old Geimer, who had been brought over to his house for a photo shoot.
In April, a Los Angeles County judge refused to sentence Polanski in absentia on the grounds that he is still a fugitive.