Polanski accused of 1972 rape of teenage girl
A FORMER German actress and model has told Swiss authorities that Roman Polanski, the film director, raped her at his mountain chalet in 1972 when she was 15 years old.
A lawyer for the 84-year-old Frenchpolish film director said he was aware of the allegation by Renate Langer and dismissed it as an “absurd” attempt to generate media attention.
Police in the north-eastern Swiss canton of St Gallen yesterday confirmed they had received a complaint from Ms Langer, 61, last month about an alleged rape at Polanski’s house in Gstaad in 1972. Swiss prosecutors were being asked to consider whether prosecution of Polanski was possible under Swiss law, given the alleged crime occurred nearly a half century ago.
Switzerland has eliminated the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children under the age of 12.
Prosecutors said that Ms Langer had filed a complaint of rape on Sept 26 and that the case would be passed on to colleagues in the canton of Bern, where Polanski has a home in Gstaad.
Ms Langer is the fourth woman to accuse Polanski of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
The New York Times quoted Ms Langer as saying she was speaking out now because she had read an account of another woman who came forward in August, and because her parents were no longer alive.