A California judge has set an August 2025 trial date for infamous director Roman Polanski in a civil case filed by a woman who claimed he raped her in 1973.
Polanski has faced numerous sexual assault charges in the United States but avoided prosecution after fleeing to Europe in 1978 on the eve of his sentencing for the rape of a 13-year-old.
The lawsuit, filed by another woman identified as Jane Doe, alleges the executive raped her when she was a child at his home in Benedict Canyon, reported CYMA.
At a news conference on Tuesday, her lawyer Gloria Allred said Polanski was served with the trial at his home in Paris.
“It took me a very long time to settle this case against Mr. Polanski,” the plaintiff said at the press conference.
A California judge has set a trial date of August 2025 for infamous director Roman Polanski in a civil suit filed by a woman (right) who claimed he raped her in 1973
“It took me a very long time to settle this case against Mr. Polanski,” the plaintiff said at the press conference
Allred said Polanski was served with the trial at his home in Paris. Allred said Polanski did not have to attend the civil trial in person, but could appear virtually if necessary
Allred said Polanski did not have to attend the civil trial in person, but could appear virtually if necessary.
‘He’s not coming back, but this is a civil case. He doesn’t have to show up,’ Allred said.
‘We will depose him. At least that’s our intention at this point, that could change.’
The woman first came forward at a press conference with Allred in August 2017, reported Variety.
According to the lawsuit, filed last year, “plaintiff remembers waking up in defendant’s bed with him lying in bed next to her,” the lawsuit said.
‘He told her he wanted to have sex with her. Plaintiff, though groggy, told Defendant “No.” She told him, ‘Please don’t do this.”’
Deadline reported Polanski’s lawyer, Alexander Rufus-Isaacs said: ‘Mr. Polanski vehemently denies the allegations made against him in the lawsuit and believes that the proper place to try this case is in the courts.’
Polanski is wanted in the US for the rape of a 13-year-old in 1977 and faces several other charges of alleged sexual abuse dating back decades and beyond the statute of limitations – all allegations he has denied.
British actress Charlotte Lewis, who is suing Polanski for defamation, recently broke down in tears at a Paris criminal court as she described how he allegedly raped her before launching a ‘defamation campaign’ to discredit the accusations.
Polanski has faced numerous sexual assault allegations in the US, but waived prosecution after fleeing to Europe in 1978
British actress Charlotte Lewis, who is suing Polanski for defamation, recently broke down in tears at a Paris criminal court as she described how he allegedly raped her before launching a ‘defamation campaign’ to discredit the accusations.
Lewis, 56, said Polanski attacked her as a teenager before trying to portray her as a child prostitute after she went public with the allegations on the first day of her libel trial against the 90-year-old in the French capital.
Waving her legal right to anonymity, Ms Lewis said: ‘It’s a smear campaign against me which has been going on since 2010. It almost destroyed my whole life.’
Lewis claims she was attacked the first night she met Polanski when she auditioned for his 1986 film ‘Pirates’ in Paris. She first made the sexual assault allegations in 2010, which were dismissed as a ‘cruel lie’ by Polanski years later.
In court today, Ms Lewis said Polanski tried to portray her as a child prostitute, with significant consequences for her reputation and social life.
It was the first time Polanski, a married father of two, has faced court since he fled America in 1977 after pleading guilty to having illicit sex with a 13-year-old girl.