Yahoo Movies Prosecutors won't charge Roman Polanski over latest molestation allegations
Prosecutors in Los Angeles will not seek criminal charges against the director Roman Polanski over new claims from a woman who says that he molested her when she was 10-years-old.
Marianne Barnard came forward with the allegations in October, saying that the incident happened in 1975 during a photoshoot.
However, the district attorney’s office told the Associated Press that it will not bring charges against Polanski because the statute of limitations has expired.
Ms Barnard said that she was taking part in a shoot with Polanski on a beach in California, and he was initially taking pictures of her in a bikini and a fur coat.
But he later asked her to pose naked.
“At first I had the understanding I was just going to the beach with my mom. We were there for a little while by ourselves and then he was there,” she said.
“And she explained that this man wanted to take pictures of me in this fur coat. I thought it was to go into a magazine or something.
“At some point I realised my mom had gone. I don’t know where she went and I didn’t really register her leaving but she was no longer there. Then he molested me.
“I felt terribly conflicted that I have been silent all this time and all these women are bravely coming forward and I thought to myself I can’t in good conscience knowing what I know – and having gone through what I’ve gone through – not speak out.
“Even though it puts me in a very bad… position with my mom and Polanski and other people who are involved, I can’t be silent any more.”
In December, it emerged that the LAPD were planning to investigate the claims, but thought it unlikely that it would be able to prosecute.
Ms. Barnard later claimed on Twitter that private investigators hired by Polanski had been sent to harass her and her family.
The reason Roman Polanski has told the press that he’s hired a private investigator to harass me and my relatives is to silence other women who have come forward to police but, not publicly. And, to silence his victims who haven’t spoken out yet at all.
— Marianne Barnard (M) (@Marianne_M_B) December 13, 2017
Polanski has been a fugitive from the US since 1978, when he fled to France while awaiting trial for the sexual assault of a 13-year old girl, fearing that a plea bargain he had made was about to be overturned.
Several other women have accused him of sexual assault in the period since, including British actress Charlotte Lewis.
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