Switzerland drops rape inquiry against Polanski
ZURICH (Reuters) — Swiss prosecutors have dropped an investigation on film director Roman Polanski after finding the statute of limitations did not allow pursuing allegations by a former German actress and model that he raped her in 1972 when she was 15 years old.
The woman, Renate Langer, made the allegations to Swiss authorities only in September.
When they emerged, a lawyer for the 84-year-old French-Polish film director called them an absurd attempt to generate media attention.
Prosecutors in the central canton of Bern said late on Wednesday the time limit for filing charges had expired.
Langer was the fourth woman to accuse Polanski publicly of sexually assaulting them when they were teenagers.
Swiss authorities arrested Polanski in 2009 on his arrival in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival. He was released two months later on bail under “house arrest” in his Gstaad chalet.