Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Another woman accuses famed director Roman Polanski of teen rape

Episode Date: October 9, 2017

Roman Polanski remains exiled in France 40 years after he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl, although the victim now wants the judge to end the case and let the director return to the USA without the threat of jail. The case is now complicated by yet another woman -- the 3rd in recent years -- accusing Polanski of raping her decades ago. Nancy Grace convenes an expert team to debate what should happen in the controversial case, including reporter Alexis Tereszcuk, lawyer Marie Napoli and forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan. Polanski's Los Angeles lawyer also talks about this client's reaction to the latest accusation. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. February 2004, Maura Murray empties her bank account, drives four hours from school, crashes her car, and vanishes. Join the search as an investigative reporter uncovers new evidence, interrogates new witnesses, traces down new leads in this riveting new investigative series the disappearance of maura murray saturdays 7 6 central and 9 8 central on oxygen the new network for crime crime stories with nancy grace on sirius xM Triumph, Channel 132. She's the woman who was sexually assaulted by famed movie director Roman Polanski 40 years ago when she was only 13.

It just wasn't as traumatic for me as everybody would like to believe it was. Polanski fled the United States to France in 1978 before his sentencing. The now 83-year-old Polanski lives mostly in France and has been seeking to be sentenced in absentia. The 60-year-old Polanski lives mostly in France and has been seeking to be sentenced in absentia. The 60-year-old woman, identified only as Robin, walked into the conference room hand-in-hand with attorney Gloria Allred. She says when she was 16 years old,

director Roman Polanski sexually assaulted her and needs to be held accountable. Polanski's attorney, Harlan Brown, is discrediting the new accusations against Polanski. I think it's just an attempt to get some publicity. You know, it's been said so many times, a leopard can't change their spots. I'm talking, of course, about Hollywood star director Roman Polanski, who is now facing more rape charges abroad after having escaped a rape charge on a minor here in the U.S. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. With me, Joe Scott Morgan, forensics investigator, Marie Napoli, high-profile lawyer,

and joining me, Alexis Tereschuk from RadarOnline.com. Alexis, first to you. First of all, before I go through his last rape charge here in the U.S. and he's been hiding out in his multi-million dollar home ever since overseas, what's the new rape allegation? A new woman has come forward. She is in her 60s now. Her name is Renee Langer. She says when she was 15 years old in 1972 that Roman Polanski

raped her not once, but more than one time. She said she was a young actress. She was in a movie with him and he raped her in a hotel room. She said not only did that happen, she then went to Rome, another location while she was filming the movie and he raped her again she has come forward all these years later because she says she was humiliated embarrassed shocked when it happened she was so young she did not want to tell her parents she was too embarrassed and afraid of what they would say both of her parents passed away within the last two years and she said she's held this secret and for too long, and she had to tell what happened to her. This after we know Polanski has skated free

on another rape charge here in the U.S. In that case, a young teen girl was, quote, scouted for a movie role, told how beautiful she was, blah, blah, blah, blah. How old was the U.S. victim? Alexis Tereshchuk? Thirteen. Oh, dear Lord in heaven.

Roman Polanski is the man behind classic movies like Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Pianist. And he has been repeatedly accused of sex misconduct with children. Now, the claim here in the U.S. was largely poo-pooed because he's famous and she wasn't. But now, similar claims arising across the ocean. Back to Alexis Tereschuk with RadarOnline.com. The New York Times is reporting that Renate Langer, she's now 61, of Germany, spoke with police in Switzerland,

alleging Roma Polanski raped her several times when she was an underage teen. A former model and actress, she says she confided at the time to a little boyfriend but did not report them at the time because she was worried about how her parents would have reacted. She was afraid, quote, my mother would have had a heart attack. I felt ashamed, embarrassed, lost, solo. And as Alexis just said, she's coming forward now because it will bring her parents no pain as they have passed on. Again, the circumstances surrounding the new rape allegations on Roman Polanski, and this is killing me because I have been listening to the elite pseudo-intellectuals saying, oh, he's been punished enough

because he had to go overseas. He's living in a mansion in Switzerland. He's not being punished. He's still a film director. He's won an Oscar for Pete's sake. And now more girl victims emerge. Alexis, help me. Well, that's the thing. I mean, Roman Polanski was found guilty, convicted of these charges. He was about to go to jail and

he fled the U.S. And he's been on the run ever since. And people, even the victim, the California victim has come forward and she said, oh, you know, it wasn't his fault. I agree to it. Oh, my goodness. The legal system does not accept that at all. He is guilty and he has hidden from his sentence for decades. How is it that a rape victim, a little girl rape victim who was given booze and drugs in a hot tub of a famous Hollywood director somehow now thinks it's her fault. Given booze and drugs in a hot tub of a Hollywood director, a famous Hollywood director. And now somehow they've gotten to her and she thinks it's all her fault. And now another rape victim emerges, allegedly. Let me tell you a follow-up on what Alexis Tereschuk from RadarOnline.com is telling us. This new victim says she met with Roman

Polanski while she was working as a model. He invited her to his home in Stade because he was considering her for a film role. My, that sounds familiar. She claims Polanski first raped her in a bedroom at his home. Again, familiar. A second time in Rome where she traveled after being cast in a small part in one of his films. She played naked girl with a hat in the film What? W-H-A-T, question mark, is the name of the film. So that much has been corroborated.

Now, her allegation is the fourth claim against Roman Polanski. And even when people are writing about him, they refer to him as the legendary director instead of the convicted rapist. What do they mean by that, Alexis? The fourth such allegation against Roman Polanski, the Hollywood director. Well, I think similar to what happens with Bill Cosby, when one woman feels empowered enough to come forward, it really shows the other women that they have nothing to hide and that there is support for them out there.

So they come forward and it has opened the floodgates. And people have said this for years with Polanski that this woman or this child in California could not have been the only victim. It wasn't a first time thing and it certainly wasn't the last. And this is what it shows that this woman was still because this is four years after Roman Polanski's beautiful pregnant wife was murdered by the Charles Manson family in their home in Beverly Hills. And he has said many times that that affected him so much. I'm not sure how one horrific murder. Please don't drag Sharon Tate's murder into this. I want to tell you something else.

Alexis, now this guy actually pled guilty. Pled guilty. This multimillionaire Hollywood director pleads guilty on the sex assault of this little girl. And this is what happened in that case. The then 43-year-old Hollywood director met 13-year-old Samantha Gailey, claimed he was interested in photographing her for a project he claimed for a French fashion magazine. Then he took pictures of her in his LA home. Then he asked her to, quote, sit for him at the Mulholland Drive home of Hollywood star Jack Nicholson. Nicholson was

traveling. His girlfriend, Angelica Houston, that we all know, famous star, was at the residence. But when Gailie got there, she wasn't home. They had the photo shoot and it ended up, I love the way people write, it ended up with the 43-year-old director and the 13-year-old girl in a hot tub. She had champagne and quaaludes, and they had oral, vaginal, and anal sex in a bedroom. A 13-year-old girl, anal sex. To the grand jury, she says she repeatedly asked to go home, but he persisted. Houston comes home, interrupts them, and later describes the girl as, quote, sullen. Well, I guess she was sullen. She'd just been anally raped.

And it kills me, Alexis Tereszczuk, that Hollywood elites and, let me just say, the Upper West Side gang in New York, insist Polanski should get to come back, Scott free to this country. And now the new claims have arisen. How are they similar to the U.S. claims, Alexis? Because they are still young teenage girls, very, very young teenage girls. They're in the privacy of Roman's own home or hotel. And he does the same thing. They're these vulnerable girls who really,

back in the 70s, wanted to be in the movie industry. Their parents are not with them. So he traps them in this situation and then attacks them and they have no recourse. They don't, nobody's going to believe them. They don't even want to tell their own parents because if it in the United States where, you know, he was actually convicted and, and set up the plea deal. He was going to go to jail. He fled. What's going to happen to him in Italy? Nothing. He's untouchable because he's this famous director that people love,

and so they refuse to help these little girls. Why is it, Alexis, that so many people have joined the Greek chorus in the background claiming he should come back to the U.S. scot-free? I do not know. My personal opinion, I do not know. You've got a child, Alexis. Can you imagine your baby or my little girl? You know my twins, John, Dave, and Lucy,

high on champagne and Quaaludes at age 13 in a hot tub with a 43 year old Hollywood director what no and I'm so mad I could want their kids to be successful and they just think that this Hollywood lifestyle is okay and they turn a blind eye but I don't think any parent ever expected that to happen which is you know the girl said she couldn't even tell her mom that the new oh I'm not blaming the parents I'm blaming all the people that want to let them back in the country. Exactly. No jail time, no charge. I want to thank our partner that is making our Serious Sex and 132 program possible. It's LegalZoom.

As a business owner, you know how important it is to keep moving forward. But things come up that take your time and focus away from growing your business. So when it comes to reviewing contracts, registering trademarks, staying current on fees and permits, LegalZoom.com can simplify your life. LegalZoom has helped over 2 million business owners easily and affordably navigate the legal system with confidence. And you never have to worry about an attorney's billable hours stacking up. LegalZoom's not a law firm. Instead, you get the advice you need to answer your business questions at fixed rates through LegalZoom's nationwide network of independent lawyers. So go to LegalZoom.com now to take care of business before

the year winds down. And for special savings, be sure to enter code Nancy in the referral box at Check out LegalZoom.com. Let me bring in our expert, along with Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics investigator. Marie Napoli is with us, a high-profile lawyer out of New York City. You know, Marie, again, thank you for being with us. The other victims I'm referring to, alleged victims, are a British actress, Charlotte Lewis, who states Polanski forced himself on her in his apartment in Paris. I mean, what does this guy have? Homes all over the world.

She gave an interview, finally. She was a model at the time. She met with him in his apartment about, guess what, Marie? Allegedly, possibly being cast in a film. Okay. That was Charlotte. The casting couch. Yeah, Charlotte Lewis.

And there is another person, a Robin M. M as in mother, came forward when she learned about this to talk about her case and speaks out so that Samantha would quote, No, she was not the only minor child Roman Polanski victimized. Okay, there we go. The only thing I can say about that is there was a $500,000 settlement with Samantha Galley, which tends to bring other women out of the woodwork, whether it's true or not, but that's certainly an incentive for people to be coming forward.

So that is something that you should keep in the back of your mind. Marie, as a crime victim and a former prosecutor, let me understand. You are saying these women are coming forward now after the first publicized victim got a civil settlement? After a civil settlement, it gives, or just for notoriety, these are the reasons why women would come forward. How about the fact that they were sexually abused? It's not true. So what we do know is that he pled guilty for a plea. He pled guilty for a plea for Justice Rittenbound, who really, in my opinion, criminally went back on the deal after he served his time. He was supposed to come back to court for the sentencing after 45 days in jail

and 90 days at a psychiatric facility that said that this man was not a pedophile. He was not a sexual predator. He showed real remorse, and he was supposed to be sentenced to time already served. The judge changed his mind, said he was going to give him 50 years. Hold on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait a minute. Hold on, hold on. Let me understand something.

Marie, what kind of law do you practice? I do all types of different litigation, big cases. Civil? Civil, criminal. Okay. And I'm assuming that you are very familiar, since you're a seasoned lawyer, with the fact that a prosecutor and a defense attorney can agree on a plea. But when the judge hears it, the judge doesn't have to agree with it.

But he did agree with it. He agreed with the plea in advance, said he was going to agree on the plea. So Roman took the plea based on that assurance. And he went to jail for the 45 days. He did the 90 days in the psychiatric unit. They gave him a good evaluation that he was not going to be a harm. And then he was coming, he flew back to court for the sentencing. And then he heard that the judge was going back on the deal and he was going to throw the book at him 50 years. He said he was going to keep him in jail for the rest of his life. Even the prosecutor said under those circumstances, he understood why he left. And there was no bail.

He didn't jump bail. Let me understand something else, Marie. So you refer to him as Roman. Roman Polanski pled guilty to sex with a 13-year-old girl. Because I'm hearing a lot from you about how the judge double-crossed him. You know, I'm a little more concerned with the fact that he anally raped a 13-year-old girl after feeding her quaaludes in champagne in a hot tub. And between you and me, Nancy, I think the agreed-upon plea was light. I think it should have been more substantial than what the agreed-upon plea was, but that was the plea and that induced him to agree to it. And that was approved by the judge. You know, it's unconscionable that a judge goes

back on that after the fact and says, you know, this, this, uh, agreed to that plea based on what he was getting and then admitted admitted to guilt he could have fought it he could have fought it and maybe the outcome would have been different so yes he could have but he didn't he did not fight it he could have withdrawn his plea marie if he didn't like the judge's sentence he could have withdrawn the plea and gone to trial. He already spent the time in jail. The 45 days? I'm not impressed, Marie. He did 45 days. I'm not saying I'm not impressed. I think the plea was low, but the judge shouldn't have agreed to it to begin with. And the deal should have been made then, when he justifiably relied on what the plea deal was.

And then that changed after he spent the time in jail. That's my opinion. So that's why all these other countries are now saying he did his time. He did the time that he was supposed to. I'd like to go to our other guest, Joe Scott Morgan, who is with us today, who has tried many, many criminal cases. You know, Joe Scott, it's amazing to me, amazing how the other victims that have now come forward who have not filed a civil suit for money against Polanski, because the time to do that has passed. There's no money involved with these other women.

To my knowledge. Yet. It's amazing to me. That instead of focusing on a. Four time sex offender. Allegedly. That people are still arguing. That Roman Polanski was double-crossed by a judge because the judge came to his senses and rejected a light plea. You know, Joe Scott, if it's me and I'm wrong, we've known each other long enough, you can just tell me.

But I think that is completely bass-ackwards. And for every rape victim and sex assault victim that is hearing this right now, and one in four women and girls, little girls, are sexually assaulted, one in four, look around, somebody with you right now has probably been sex assaulted. One in four. I just, I can't believe people are still saying that Polanski was double-crossed and somehow it's the judge's fault. All these other people are coming forward.

What, they're all lying? I don't believe that they're all lying. I can't begin to fathom that. And the question is, how many others from an investigative standpoint has he left in his wake that they're so terrified or have been so terrified in the past that they would not come forward. I think a lot of these people, these victims, have been bullied, I think, by the elite media, by those that hold this person in esteem because he's, you know, created so-called art, that that, in the balance, bears more weight than how you treat fellow human beings. And this is this kind of thread that runs through this entire community. It's not just, you know, it's not simply an indictment, like you said earlier, of the systemic behavior that goes on that just allows these people to be excused over and over and over again. And people get tired of it.

And then, you know, later on in life, you know, a lot of these, like this poor woman in Germany. I don't know that she's filed for any monetary recourse here. It sounds as though that she's genuinely heartsick over the circumstances where she was completely powerless. Well, I don't know. I'm not familiar with the statutes of limitations in Germany, but I know here in the U.S., after a period of years, frequently two to seven years, you can no longer file a civil charge, a civil claim for money. Marie Napoli with me, lawyer out of New York City. I heard

you saying something about one in four. Yeah, I hadn't heard that statistic before. One in four, that seems extremely high. I was just wondering where that. one-quarter, that would be one-fourth, 27% of women who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, one in three who are multi-cultural, multi-racial experience rape in their lifetime, one in five black and white, not Hispanic women, 19% of them, one in seven Hispanic in the U.S. have experienced rape at some point in their lives. Every year in the U.S., 1,270,000 women experience rape. And I mean, I can go on. That's extremely high. What is that? Yes, it is, isn't it? What is that paper that you're reading from? Does it give any authority for where these numbers come from?

You can look it up. It's called 1 in 4. Let's see. From the New York Times, 1 in 4 women experience sex assault on campus. I mean, it goes on and on and on. And I just find it so intriguing that you're questioning stats that you can look up online. I've never heard stats that high. Do you practice criminal law?

Me? I practice criminal civil law. I'm actually representing... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Criminal civil law. What is that? Well, I practice both. Because criminal and there's civil. actually representing whoa whoa whoa criminal civil law what is that well i because criminal and they're civil but my civil case i'm handling a a statutory rape case right now in a school

district down in texas um i can't speak too much about that um but uh what i've learned about that is there's always two sides to every story. And it was a statutory rape case, and it was a terrible situation. And what I bring from that to Roman Polanski's case is that there are two sides to every story. Hold on. I think I missed something you were saying. Marie, I'm sorry. I think I missed something. You say that you are working, I assume, in the defense arena in a statutory rape case, and there are two sides.

I'm representing the plaintiff. Plaintiff. And there is a statutory rape? A 13-year-old woman, which I'm not at liberty to give her name. Okay, a 13-year-old is not a woman to start with. Under the law, that's a child. Well, it's a 13-year-old female, and it's a statutory rape case. And so what that brings to the table to me,

and really getting into the minutia of all the facts, there are always two sides to every story, maybe three or four. I find that difficult to believe when a child, when the rape victim is a child, and if it's true, that there's another side to that because I didn't know her age is really not a defense. You know, in addition to the stats, 63% and let me get my source for you of rapes. Excuse me, 63% of sex assaults are not reported to police, and only 12% of child sex abuse is ever reported. That I believe.

So if you take that into account, and this is from the National Sex Violence Resource Center, since you asked my sources. So if you take that into account with the number of one in four some people some stats say one in five women are sex assaulted in their life 63 percent not reported only 12 percent of child sex abuse reported i mean mean, when you look at it like that, when you look at it in the face, it's an epidemic. Nancy, this is Samantha Geimer, the woman sexually assaulted by Polanski in 1977 when she was 13, telling reporters this year why

she wants the judge to end the case against the director. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I was there. I know what happened. You know, it's very interesting to make it worse than it was and call it horrific and assign all these words to it, but that's not what happened. I was there. I'm fine. In 1978, when this unfoldeded 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. It just wasn't as traumatic for me as everybody would like to believe it was. I was a young sexually active teenager and it was a scary thing but it was not an uncommon thing I understood much worse things happen to people so I just was not as traumatized as everybody thinks I should have been this is the first opportunity I've had to come to court and talk so I figured I'd take it because I thought it might be my last I was standing here saying throw the book at him I want him in jail for life my opinion would count when I'm standing here saying I'm fine and nothing you can do to him will help me or anybody else suddenly it's the state's not me that counts so it's a

really hypocritical view either victims count or they don't he served his sentence he went to Chino for 42 days I never asked anybody to put him in prison for one day and this was all about judge Ritten's man's ego. He was lied to, he did his sentence, he owes me nothing and he owes the state of California nothing except to show up here eventually I think. I don't think he bears no responsibility but I also think the district attorney has a greater responsibility to investigate the misconduct that occurred in this case. Potentially a crime was committed by David Wells and that is completely swept under the rug

while Roman is expected to stand up. I mean he's just a person. The district attorney has an obligation and they have never shown any interest in investigating the truth of what happened and Roger Gunson's testimony would prove the truth and it would solve Roman's problems and my problems. Hollywood star director Roman Polanski facing more rape charges abroad. Now, this is what Roman Polanski's lawyer, Harlan Braun, tells us exclusively. Are we ever going to see him come back to Los Angeles? Oh, of course, yeah. As long as we can have the judges acknowledge their original promises and follow the rules, he'll certainly come back. But he can't really risk coming back now where you have secret agreements among judges to let him cool his heels in the county jail despite the fact that he shouldn't be doing

any more custody. Does Mr. Polanski really want to come back to Los Angeles? His wife and son are buried in Holy Cross in Culver City and hasn't been able to visit them. He has another issue. He has a warrant out for his arrest that prevents him from going outside of three countries in Europe so that he would like to get the matter resolved, if he can resolve it fairly and honestly. If he gets this resolved, will we see him in Los Angeles? Do you think he'll actually come here?

Oh, I think so, yeah. I mean, this is the center of movie industry, and he's one of the most prolific and best-recognized directors in movie history. Do you have any concern, coming back, there being other legal liabilities? We recently saw that news conference from Gloria Allred with a woman making some allegations against him, and then there was another one in 2010. Are you concerned at all about those cases or any legal liability?

No, not at all. Not at all. From what I know about them, I think they're basically people that are jumping on the bandwagon and trying to get some publicity. And so they're all so old, they're not really filable under any theory. So we really have the one pending case here in Los Angeles for the last four decades. And as you know, the victim in that case, Samantha Geimer, came forward and said to the judge, hey, let's get this case over with because it's hurting me, it's hurting my family, and I thought that would change the tide. Now, one thing I think people do not realize is that if Mr. Polanski had been sentenced to the maximum in 1978, he would have done 12 months in custody. Twelve months, that's the maximum. He was promised less than three months by the judge here who broke his promise.

But because of various proceedings in Europe, he has done 10 months already in custody. So he has done 10 months in custody on a 12-month possible sentence in a world where you cannot extradite someone unless there is at least six months owed. So we are really in an insane situation to even be arguing about it. There's another allegation, a woman claiming she was assaulted many years ago in Europe. Are you concerned about that case? Not at all. She's claiming that she was assaulted in 1972. And so I've talked to my client that he has no idea what this is about and certainly didn't rape anyone ever. I mean,

this is the crime here that he's convicted of is basically unlawful sexual intercourse, the underage issue. So he's denying it. So what can we do? What could you do if someone said they were raped by you in 1972? How would you prove that you didn't do it unless you were underage, unless you were before puberty or something? So, you know, anytime you're a famous person and people want to jump on for publicity, we're dealing with one case. I'm sure there's going to be other people that are going to try to jump on the bandwagon.

We want to deal with the situation here in Los Angeles. You have talked to your client, Roman Polanski, about this most recent allegation? Yes. Yep, absolutely. So I got a call about it from the New York Times. I was picking it up, and I talked to him. I think he actually talked to the New York Times. I was away over the weekend. One thing I think that people do not realize in this country,

particularly in Los Angeles, is that two foreign jurisdictions have already reviewed this case. And both of them, for very important reasons, rejected the American request for extradition. Switzerland rejected the request because the Los Angeles court wouldn't give him the sworn statement of the prosecutor. What happened to the prosecutor? So Switzerland rejected that. And then Poland, the Polish judge wrote a 200-page decision

reviewing the entire case, referring to the secret emails between the judges, and concluded that Mr. Polanski had already been done his time that he promised, was promised, but that it would be this judge who really admires our system was sort of shocked and said that he would be afraid to appear in a Los Angeles court. What I find interesting is that no judge in Los Angeles has read those decisions because the court here refuses to put it on their website because they're so embarrassing. It's such an indictment

of our system. It is sort of breathtaking. And if you notice the latest decision from Judge Gordon and the previous decision from Judge Brandlin, they never mentioned the emails ever, even though we filed the emails, their official emails between the judges. They've been filed a number of times, but they never mention them because they totally destroy the position of the district attorney and the court that Mr. Polanski should come back. With me, Joe Scott Morgan, forensics investigator. Marie Napoli, high profile lawyer. Joe Scott Morgan, one in four women are sex assaulted in their life and only 12 percent of child sex abuse is ever reported. It's an epidemic, Joe Scott. Yeah, it is.

And I teach at university. One of the things that we talk about in victimology, I'll be real brief with it, is this idea of asymmetry, where you've got this dominant person that either has money, they have physical power, they have some way to dominate somebody that is lesser than them in their mind.

And that person that is the victim has bought into this as well. They want something from the victimizer or they need something from the victimizer. And, of course, time and time again, we've seen this played out where those that are in these kinds of positions, you know, they take these people, these poor people, for everything that they're worth. And we're talking about people, we're talking about children. I mean, children, let's face it. And as far as I'm concerned, you want to talk about epidemics, I think ground zero, ground zero for a lot of this epidemic-like manifestations that we've seen is, I don't know. I don't know. Let's say it's in the entertainment industry.

And, you know, I'll leave it at that. I think that there are other stories in the news. You know what? This woman, one of the many other women that are now alleging Polanski raped her. I'm talking about Renate Langer, who is now a 61-year-old senior citizen. And she says he raped her on two occasions when she was a girl, a minor girl. And she says to the New York Times,

that's your source, Marie Napoli. Right. This has had an influence on all my life. I felt ashamed and embarrassed. She said she lived in the shadow of Roman Polanski all his life, but she blamed that more on the media and the aftermath and the judge than she does. I'm talking about the woman that has just come forward. Oh, I thought you said Samantha. I'm sorry. Yeah. So let's just hold off before we blame the media and the judge again for Roman Polanski

raping a girl in a hot tub after giving her Quaaludes and champagne when she's 13, anally raping her. Okay. Before we blame the judge anymore for rejecting a cheap plea, I'm talking about somebody completely different. I'm talking about, as I said, Renate Langer, a 61-year-old woman. Actress Charlotte Lewis, says Polanski, abused her when she was a teen girl, giving her, she's listing out the wines he gave her,

that she'll never forget it and still can't drink that. Oh, my stars, it's champagne. He gave her, according to her, champagne as well, she tells the Daily Mail. And he just said very coldly, quote, if you're not a big enough girl to have sex with me, you're not big enough to do the screen test. Hollywood is giving the wrong message today with pedophiles and their, on pedophiles, in their effort to bring Polanski home without further punishment. I don't think that they can bring him home with that, with further punishment. I don't think that they can bring him home with further punishment.

They've refused to extradite him twice. And the general consensus... Not the U.S. The U.S. has not refused to extradite him. No, but... You say they. It's not the U.S. They're still trying to extradite him.

But the countries that he's living in, he is really safe there. And there's a lot of talk that if he came back to the United States, that he would be freed because of the conduct of the judge, because of him going back on the plea deal. I mean, this is not a common thing for a judge to do. This is not expected, especially— Are you back on the judge again, Marie mean, this is not a common thing for a judge to do. This is not expected, especially... Are you back on the judge again, Marie? I can't help it. Well, try. Try, because all this time, Polanski and his supporters have successfully painted his attack on 13-year-old Samantha as a one-off. Never happened again. And he goes and lives like a king in Europe for decades after fleeing the U.S. court system.

And he is painted as the victim. Okay? Now that these other women are coming forward, that simply is not true. Go ahead. I can hear you. Well, I have to say, we don't know what the truth of these other women's claims are, right? Because they haven't been litigated. Renee Langer, the most recent woman that came forward, after 40 years, she decides to come forward. She was 15 at the time of her incident, statutory rape. And the law in Switzerland is there's no statute of limitations if you're under 12. So I think that case is a dead end. She's not. Well, then my question to you is, why would you, Marie Napoli, bring up the fact that because the original victim that we know of in the U.S. got a civil money settlement, that now all these women are coming out of the woodwork was the way you phrased it. It's too late.

They can't get any money. So that is not a motive here. There's ways to get money if just to make them go away for them to be quiet. You know, he wants to be left alone. They're going to be. Do you have any evidence at all that they have been paid any sum of money whatsoever? No, no. I'm not saying that they have been paid, but I'm just saying that there is a motive there for them to be saying these things happened when they didn't. The thing that I find interesting is that he'd been in a 90-day evaluation, and they said that this man was not a sexual predator. This was a one-time thing. He showed remorse, and he showed all these... He showed so much remorse, he went to Europe and did it again and again and again and again. That doesn't sound like remorse. And he showed all these. He showed so much remorse he went to Europe and did it again and again and again and again.

That doesn't sound like remorse to me. It's inconsistent with what the doctor said. And for these women to come out so far after the fact, after Samantha was actually paid $500,000 or after there's been so much notoriety. You mean after her anal rape by a man 30 years older than her? That thing? Oh, okay. Go ahead. Yes.

After the statutory rape with Samantha, these other women came forward. So I don't really know what the truth of those are without having a full trial. And I'm not going to say that. Well, I do know this. Nobody is asking you to side with the alleged rape victims. Right. Because I'm siding with them. Right. I don't need anybody else to agree with me or disagree with me.

Because I know this. After dealing with literally thousands of victims and perpetrators. Yeah, when you have one he say, she say, yeah, you have a credibility issue. When you have two, it's a little more difficult to believe the perp. But when you have three, when you have four, and you have corroboration, it's very difficult for me to believe all these women with nothing to gain at this point, no money, no notoriety, nothing, will come out and bare their souls. There is a reason, Joe Scott Morgan, there is a reason sex assault victims don't come forward because they feel like it was their fault they don't want their family to know there's a million reasons why they never say a word in the rest of

their lives i agree with you carry it around yeah yeah joe scott i think i think that uh it there is one seminal reason here that goes forward with with of this, and it's what I alluded to earlier. by somebody that wholly took advantage of them in the most intimate way another human being possibly can, aside from murder, and has driven them. There's no telling what kind of burden these people have borne for their entire lives. And how many, this begs the question, you know, we're not in a court of law here, but it does beg the question, how many other victims are suffering away in silence like this because of not just Polanski, but because the system victimized them? I know this, Joe Scott, if you look, if you hear

about or read this girl's grand jury testimony, I mean, the brutal rape of a child, you know, it has to be in Hollywood. That can be airbrushed and fantasized away. In her grand jury testimony, she describes Polanski giving her quaaludes, denying her begging to, quote, go home, raping her vaginally and anally. It's enough. I mean, it's just, I'm glad the judge reneged because the judge was wrong in digesting what was spoon-fed to him as a plea deal. And Polanski has lived like a king ever since, and according to these other women, they were raped as girls too. These are the ones that have come forward. Are there others? I was sexually victimized by Roman Polanski when I was a minor at the age of 16 in 1973. The day after it happened, I did tell one friend that

Mr. Polanski had done that to me. The reason with this exception that I kept it to myself is that I didn't want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life. When Samantha Geimer became the victim of unlawful sexual intercourse by Roman Glansky in 1977, I considered speaking up to support her in the criminal case brought against him. Her case didn't appear to need my support, however, so I stayed quiet. Over the years, I've been satisfied that this child molester, Roman Polanski, is publicly known for sexually victimizing a 13-year-old girl. Recently, I saw Samantha Geimer on the news appearing to support Mr. Polanski

and stating that he's done everything he needed to do. This infuriated me. I'm speaking out now so that Samantha and the world will know that she is not the only minor Roman Polanski victimized. I'm not over it and I certainly believe that Roman Polanski should be held accountable for his criminal conduct with Samantha Geimer. He fled the country, years have passed, and he's famous. But that does not excuse his criminal conduct of sexually victimizing minors. Thank you. How was she close to Polanski? How did she get into this situation? Well, we're not going to discuss those details because if Mr. Polanski chooses to withdraw

his plea and seek a trial at which a jury or the court would decide if he should be convicted of any of the charges on which he was indicted. It is possible under California law for other accusers who allege that they were also sexually victimized by Mr. Polanski to be called to testify. At this point, I don't know whether Mr. Polanski will wish to go to trial. But in the same way that under Pennsylvania law, it is possible for other, they call them prior bad act witnesses in Pennsylvania, to be called to testify in the criminal case pending against Mr. Cosby. Similarly, here in California, we also

have a law which would allow other, I'll call them prior bad act witnesses, to testify. And then, of course, his attorney would have a right to cross-examine them. And so while she has met with law enforcement and she has described what she alleges that Mr. Polanski did to her and how it came to be that she was with Mr. Polanski, she is not going to be able to disclose what she told law enforcement and what she alleges occurred because she wants to protect her testimony should she be needed to testify at trial.

Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. and fellow crime sleuths to help uncover new leads and theories in the cold cases they adopt. Their first cold case focuses on the mysterious disappearance of nursing student Mara Murray in 2004, and it's free to join thanks to Oxygen. Sign up now or find more info at club.crimecon.com. That's club.crimecon.com. This is an iHeart Podcast.