Polanski 'sex victim' happy case dropped

THE woman with whom film director Roman Polanski was convicted of having illegal sex when she was a minor has said she is satisfied with Switzerland's decision not to extradite him to the United States for the 1977 offence.

Samantha Geimer, now a mother of three in her 40s, has repeatedly asked for the case to be dropped.

Switzerland on Monday refused to hand him over and freed him after months of house arrest.

"I am satisfied with this decision and I hope that the district attorney will now close the case and get it over once and for all," Ms Geimer told French radio.

Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with Ms Geimer, who was 13 at the time, after giving her a cocktail of champagne and drugs.

He fled before sentencing in 1978, saying he believed the judge would renege on a plea agreement under which the 42 days he had spent in detention for psychiatric assessment would constitute his full sentence.