Roman Polanski Escapes Prosecution For Another Rape Allegation

LOS ANGELES, CA — Fugitive Oscar winner Roman Polanski will not face charges for allegedly molesting a 10-year-old girl during a Pacific Palisades photo shoot on New Year’s Day in 1975.

Patch confirmed the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office declined to bring charges against Polanski Monday, citing the statute of limitations. Last month, the Los Angeles Police Department referred Polanski for prosecution for molesting a child under 14.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the alleged victim "came forward about a sexual assault involving Roman Polanski. The alleged assault occurred in 1975. We are investigating the matter, however, it appears that the case may be out of statute."

Police released no details about the alleged victim, but she was identified by British newspaper The Sun and the Los Angeles Times as Marianne Barnard. Barnard contends the Oscar-winning director molested her during a photo shoot at Will Rogers State Beach when she was 10-years-old. Barnard also contends Polanski took photos of her at the beach when she was wearing nothing but a fur coat.

Polanski's attorney, Harland Braun, has denied the allegation by Barnard, who went public with her accusation in The Sun last October.

However, evidence from the investigation of such a case could potentially be presented in conjunction with other cases. Polanski is a currently an international fugitive wanted for the 1977 molestation of a 13-year-old girl in the Los Angeles home of Jack Nicholson. The director, writer and producer, who won an Oscar in 2002 for "The Pianist," fled to his native France in 1978 before he could be sentenced in Los Angeles for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old. He still lives in Europe and is considered a fugitive. Southern California authorities have tried for years to bring him back to America.

Polanski's attorney has repeatedly asked for the case to be dismissed in the interests of justice. Braun said his client had accepted responsibility for his actions. The defense lawyer has maintained that Polanski has already served more than enough time, including a stretch he spent at a state prison in Chino in the late 1970s for a pre-sentencing diagnostic examination as well as in jail and under house arrest in Switzerland in 2009 while Swiss authorities considered an extradition request.

In August, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott M. Gordon rejected the request, noting that testimony from the victim in that case, Samantha Geimer, "is dramatic evidence of the long-lasting and traumatic effect these crimes, and defendant's refusal to obey court orders and appear for sentencing, is having on her life."

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City News Service contributed to this report. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)