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Polanski Rape Happened at Nicholson's Pad

And other things you didn't know about the fugitive director

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 2, 2009 4:26 PM CDT

(Newser) – Think you know everything about Roman Polanski? You’re probably wrong. AskMen.com compiles a list of surprising tidbits about the headline-grabbing statutory rapist:

  • It happened at Jack Nicholson’s house: Somehow lost in the hubbub was the fact that the crime took place at Nicholson’s home, where Polanski took victim Samantha Geimer after a photo shoot.

  • He’s a Holocaust survivor: Polanski and his family were imprisoned in Poland’s infamous Krakow ghetto. He escaped through some cut wires before the Jews there were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz.
  • He once testified in British court by video link: He filed a libel suit in Britain, but couldn’t go there because of its extradition treaty with the US.
  • He judged a Miss Universe pageant: He helped choose the pageant’s first Israeli winner.

Polanski may be a rapist, but he's also a Holocaust survivor.
Polanski may be a rapist, but he's also a Holocaust survivor.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
Actor Jack Nicholson yells at an official during Game 2 of a second-round NBA playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.
Actor Jack Nicholson yells at an official during Game 2 of a second-round NBA playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.   (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
Thinker
Oct 4, 2009 3:17 AM CDT
The thing that bothers me is this: Why wasn't he ever charged with the crime of "sexual assault?" Why did the prosecution settle for a statutory infraction? Is it because they had no witness? Is it because the "victim" refused to testify? Is it because money changed hands between the "perp" and the "victim?" Was this a case of prostitution? Look, there is no reason for the prosecution NOT to charge someone with sexual assault if they drugged a child and forced sex on her ... unless the victim refused to say it was sexual assault. Or, unless the victim was a prostitute (is that statutory rape, as well?).
jagerhans
Oct 3, 2009 12:52 PM CDT
he's an holocaust survivor. hmm. so what ? i suffered with discal hernia, maybe this entitles me not to pay that fine.
Kookey90
Oct 3, 2009 7:45 AM CDT
At Jack's pad? I can't help but wonder where Jack was when all this ruckus was going on. Could he have been in the next bedroom sound asleep?

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