Polanski to face civil trial over 1973 rape

LOS ANGELES

French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the U.S. more than four decades ago after being convicted of sexually assaulting a child, will face a civil trial over the alleged rape of another minor years earlier, the woman's lawyer said on March 12.

The case against the director of "The Pianist" will be heard in Los Angeles in August 2025, said Gloria Allred, a Hollywood lawyer who has represented victims of rapist Harvey Weinstein and others who emerged in the #MeToo era.

While Polanski cannot be forced to attend the trial, said Allred, the civil hearing will be a chance for her client, named in the suit as Jane Doe, to seek justice for the alleged attack in 1973.

The suit, filed last year, claims Polanski took the then-teenager to dinner in 1973 at a restaurant in Los Angeles.

He allegedly gave her tequila, and when she began to feel dizzy, drove her to his home in the tony Benedict Canyon, where he forced himself on her.

The woman, whose age was not given, first came forward with allegations against Polanski in 2017, at which time she was identified as "Robin."

The civil suit, which seeks unspecified damages, was filed in June 2023, just before the expiration of a California law that allowed for an extended window for claims against the alleged perpetrators of sexual crimes.

Oscar-winner Polanski, now 90, is a divisive figure, with some in the movie world hailing his creative genius, while others insist he was always a sexual predator.