TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Swiss police probing new Polanski rape accusation
Change Size
Roman Polanski attends the 'Based On A True Story' screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 27, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Shutterstock/File)
S
wiss police confirmed Tuesday they were investigating new rape allegations against Roman Polanski made by a woman who said the filmmaker assaulted her in the town of Gstaad in 1972.
St. Gallen police communications chief Krusi Hanspeter confirmed the details of the allegations, first reported by The New York Times.
Hanspeter told AFP that police interviewed Renate Langer on September 26 concerning accusations that Polanski raped her in Gstaad when she was 15.
Polanski in 1977 pleaded guilty in the United States to having unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer -- aged 13 at the time -- but fled the country before he could be sentenced. He remains a fugitive from the US justice system.
Langer is a 61-year-old former actress who was born in Munich, according to multiple media reports.
She is the fourth woman to publicly accuse Polanski of sexual assault.
In August, a woman identified only as Robin told a news conference in Los Angeles she was "sexually victimised" by the legendary French-Polish film director when she was 16, in 1973.
Robin said she was prompted to come forward out of anger after Geimer urged authorities to finally put her famous case to rest.
Read also: Woody Allen opens Cannes; son resurrects sex abuse questions
Robin told reporters she wanted people to know that Polanski, now 84, had victimised others.
According to The New York Times, Langer finally decided to approach police in part because of Robin's example and because her parents are no longer alive.
She told the paper she met Polanski while working as a model in Munich and travelled with him to a house in Gstaad, where she said he raped her.
Hanspeter told AFP it was not yet clear if criminal charges would be filed.
Swiss prosecutors can still move forward with the case, although the elapsed time makes it less likely.
Polanski's film career has continued to flourish since he fled the US for France, where many consider him an icon.
He has eight Cesars -- the French equivalent of an Oscar -- as well as a best director Academy Award for Holocaust drama "The Pianist."
