Yahoo News Roman Polanski denies new historic sex abuse claims
Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski is denying fresh allegations of historic sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s.
Polanski has been living in exile from the US since 1977, when he fled the country rather than face sentencing over allegations that he sexually assaulted 13-year-old Samantha Geimer.
The filmmaker has spent the last 40 years trying to avoid being extradited to the US. In 2010, he was held for nine months under house arrest in Switzerland and later taken into custody again briefly in 2014 in his native Poland.
Polanski's legal team have continued to contest the extradition order, with their case being bolstered earlier this year when Samantha Geimer petitioned a US judge to dismiss the case in order to bring her closure.
However, a woman going by the pseudonym Robin M has offered, through her attorney Gloria Allred, to testify against the director should Polanski be retried in the US (via Deadline).
[Samantha Geimer and Roman Polanski]
Robin M said in a statement that Geimer's request to drop the case inspired her to make her own allegations public "so that Samantha and the world will know that she is not the only minor Roman Polanski had victimized".
The woman is claiming that she was raped by Polanski back in 1973 when she was just 16 years old, but is not sharing any other details at this time. California's statute of limitations prevents her from pursuing charges in her own case.
Her allegations were met with an emphatic response from Polanski's attorney, who said: "I think this is an attempt to influence [presiding] Judge Gordon by a news conference.
"Ms Geimer came to court, presented herself and begged the four decades old case be over. If this lady wants to block Ms Geimer's request, Ms Allred could file an amicus brief with Judge Gordon. Mr Polanski has done 10 months in custody in a case where he was promised no more than two months and Ms Geimer has a right to her own life and opinion."
Polanski has made no public comment about these new allegations. He is currently prepping the release of his new film Based on a True Story, ahead of its release in France later this year.
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