In a new development in the ongoing Roman Polanski sexual molestation accusation that dates back to 1975, Los Angeles say there’s nothing they can do to advance the case.
The New York Daily News obtained a charge evaluation worksheet released on Monday in which Los Angeles County Deputy Attorney Michele Hanisee stated that the case was too old to go forward.
“Offense date is outside applicable statute of limitations,” she wrote in the worksheet.
Although the worksheet did not name the alleged victim, LAPD confirmed they had been investigating a claim that the Polish film director molested a 10-year-old girl on a Malibu Beach in 1975.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Los Angeles authorities investigated the alleged victim’s claim after Marianne Bernard went public with the accusations via Twitter.
In an interview with the Daily Beast in October, Barnard detailed her shocking claim.
“First he was taking pictures of me in the bikini, then it was with the coat then he said take off the bikini top, which I was comfortable with as I was only 10 and I often ran around with no top on,” she said.
“But then he wanted me to take my bikini bottoms off—I started to feel very uncomfortable.”
After her story went public, Barnard launched an online petition calling for the Chinatown director’s expulsion from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The petition had more than 20,400 supporters as of Monday.
Polanski, 84, has repeatedly denied Barnard’s accusation and his lawyer has said he has no knowledge of her, the Los Angeles Times reported. Because of the state’s statute of limitations child assault cases cannot be prosecuted on incidents before 1992.
Following the Charles Manson-ordered murder of his wife actress Sharon Tate in 1969, Polanski has found himself repeatedly in the wrong side of the law. The Oscar-winning director plead guilty in 1978 to unlawful sexual intercourse of a minor 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. Prior to sentencing, he fled to France. Polanski has successfully dodged numerous extradition attempts.
To date, Polanski has now been publicly accused of sexually abusing five teen girls.
[Feature image: Associated Press/Roman Polanski]
