Supporters of convicted criminal,  movie director Roman Polanski believes he should be allowed to get away with skipping out on sentencing 32 years ago.  He had originally been charged with giving  a 13-year-old  aspiring  model champagne and  part of a Quaalude and then raping and sodomizing her among other charges in spite of her pleas that he stop.  According to the girl's  grand jury testimony he photographed her topless, ostensibly for a magazine, and then had her completely disrobe before attacking her.

He managed to plea bargain the charges down to a simple unlawful sex with a minor charge.   However, he fled the country when it appeared the judge might sentence him to a longer jail term than what he had agreed to in the plea bargain.

As many people know, male Hollywood producers, directors, etc. have long had a reputation for requiring woman who wanted to succeed to grant them sexual favors via the casting couch.  Polanski possibly thought this tradition meant he could get away with attacking a young girl  who wanted to become a model. 

40-year-old men who rape 13-year-olds usually are sexual predators who have preyed on more than one  girl.  I wonder if there are other girls who were raped by Polanski but didn't report it because  they were ashamed, considered rape part of the cost of getting in show business,  felt it wouldn't do any good to charge someone so well known or were paid to forget the incident.

Polanski has avoided arrest for 32 years because France allows it criminals to return home without fear of being extradited for their crimes.  French leaders apparently believe it is perfectly acceptable for French citizens to rape American girls.    

French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand was quoted in French media as saying, "In the same way that there is a generous America that we like, there is also a scary America that has just shown its face."  French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France-Inter radio that he and Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski asked Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that Polanski be released on bail, calling his arrest  a "bit sinister."

French opposition shouldn't be too surprising considering the country's past support for accused artists.

Polanski has been flaunting the law for 32 years.  It's time for him to be returned and serve out his sentence.
 
Ordinary citizens who have done the same have been required to  return to jail.  Why shouldn't  big shot  film makers? 

Are entertainers in particular or the rich in general above the law?  Are they only required to pay compensation to their victims and check into rehab when they get caught breaking the law?  Do the entertainers who support Polanski believe rape of children by film directors is acceptable behavior?

It's not like Polanski questioned the charges by attempting to establish his innocence in a trial like Michael Jackson did.  Jackson challenged the charges against him and the jury found him not guilty.  Polanski readily admitted his guilt by agreeing to a plea bargain that implied only a minor violation of the law.