Polanski agreed to pay victim $500,000

Published on Saturday 3 October 2009 19:43

THE film director, Roman Polanski, agreed to pay his sex assault victim $500,000 to settle a lawsuit 15 years after he fled the United States, new court documents revealed yesterday.

Polanski, currently being held in Switzerland on a US arrest warrant for the 1977 assault of then 13-year-old Samantha Geimer, reached a compensation deal in October 1993.

The terms of the settlement were confidential, but the amount was disclosed in court documents because of a two-year struggle to get Polanski to pay up.

Court records do not indicate if Polanski ever paid. The last court filing in August 1996 shows Polanski, now 76, owed Geimer $604,416.22, a sum that included interest.

Polanski's attorney David Finkle said he couldn't remember details of the case and declined to comment yesterday. He would only say: "It's ancient."

Polanski was accused of plying Geimer with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill during a modelling shoot in 1977 before raping her. He was initially indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molestation and sodomy.

He pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse and a judge sent him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. However, he was released after 42 days by an evaluator who deemed him mentally sound and unlikely to offend again.

The judge responded by saying he was going to send Polanski back to jail for the remainder of the 90 days and that afterwards he would ask Polanski, who now holds both French and Polish passports, to agree to a "voluntary deportation".

Polanski then fled the United States the night before he was scheduled to be sentenced in February 1978.

Geimer, who long ago identified herself as a rape victim, sued Polanski in December 1988 when she was 25 years old, alleging sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and seduction.

She has since supported Polanski's bid for dismissal and has forgiven him.