Fugitive Filmmaker Roman Polanski To Stand Trial In 2025 For Alleged Teen Rape In 1973
Gloria Allred is representing a woman, identified only as Jane Doe, who is suing filmmaker Roman Polanski, alleging that he raped her when she was underage in his Los Angeles home in 1973.
Allred, a high-profile American attorney who advocates for women's rights, held a press conference Tuesday with plaintiff Jane Doe, announcing that trial is scheduled to start August 4 of 2025.
"Today we are here to announce that on behalf of our client Jane Doe, we have files served and are litigating a civil lawsuit alleging child sexual abuse against Roman Polanski," Allred, 82, stated.
During the conference, Allred stated that Doe alleged the fugitive filmmaker Polanski, 90, knew she was a minor and that in his Benedict Canyon home, proceeded to give her two shots of tequila before driving them to dinner in Los Angeles.
During dinner at a restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard, Polanksi allegedly continued to give her alcohol before she became dizzy and ill. She told the defendant she didn't feel well, during which time the defendant allegedly drove her back to his house.
Jane Doe does not recall how she got from the car into the defendant's home. She claimed she remembers waking up in the defendant's bed, with him lying next to her saying he wanted to have sex with her. She says she declined, followed by, "Please don't do this."
According to her, he undressed her and proceeded to sexually assault her despite rejection.
Polanski didn't get the nickname "fugitive filmmaker" for nothing. His various awards for films such as 'The Pianist' (2002), 'Chinatown' (1974), and 'Rosemary's Baby' (1969) were all overshadowed by the heinous Manson-related murder of his second wife Sharon Tate and statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.
Polanksi has since been a fugitive from the United States for decades in an effort to dodge sentencing for the rape of Samantha Geimer — who was 13 — in 1977. He's faced multiple allegations of sexual abuse since then.
Polanski is facing trial in France over claims that he defamed British actress Charlotte Lewis after she accused him of having sexually assaulted her in the 1980s, per The Hollywood Reporter.
