Why Did Roman Polanski Run Away?

if you can evade the law long enough that justice is not longer possible then you should be free. This is not a strange idea, this is what the statutes of limitations are all about.

It is our fault that we did not catch up with Polanski before now, we failed justice. But he should not take the fall for our collective failure

we have already shown that our sex law punishment is outrageous by European standards...you have no legs to stand on here

if you can evade the law long enough that justice is not longer possible then you should be free. This is not a strange idea, this is what the statutes of limitations are all about. It is our fault that we did not catch up with Polanski before now, we failed justice. But he should not take the fall for our collective failure

No, statutes of limitations are for those who haven't been charged with a crime. But wait, I think I'm repeating myself

The punishments he would face for this crime in Europe are similar to California law

Key figures in the largest child abuse trial ever held in France were sentenced to up to 28 years in jail yesterday after a jury convicted them of raping, molesting and prostituting children, including their own.

The court found that between January 1999 and February 2002, the 65 defendants had sexually abused 45 children, then aged from six months to 14 years, sometimes in exchange for cash, drink, cartons of cigarettes or, on one occasion, a car tyre.

After a five-month trial, the jury sent three repeat offenders to prison for between 26 and 28 years. Other suspects were handed sentences ranging from six months suspended, to 18 years in jail.

The offences took place in flats, sheds and allotments on a rundown housing estate in the Loire town of Angers, 165 miles from Paris, better known for its medieval chateau.

The abuse came to light five years ago when a 16-year-old girl told a social worker she had been raped by her mother's boyfriend and his brother.

The inquiry started slowly but snowballed into France's biggest criminal investigation.

More than half the defendants, 39 men and 26 women aged from 27 to 73 - who cannot be fully identified under a French law designed to preserve the anonymity of child victims - are unemployed.

The case has been described by lawyers and social workers involved as a barely imaginable example of the breakdown of all social, moral and human values in a closed and deprived community.

A 28-year prison term was given to Philippe V, 59, who had already served a 13-year term for child abuse and was described by prosecutors as an "indifferent monster" who had, over the years, raped his daughter, son and four grandchildren. He told the court that he "couldn't give a toss" about his offspring.

Eric J, an alleged ringleader, was convicted of raping 15 children and also given 28 years.

The majority of the abuse sessions took place in the apartment of Franck and Patricia V, Philippe V's son and former daughter-in-law, with whom he was living.

Franck V, 36, was sentenced to 18 years for the rape of 14 children, including his own two daughters and young son.

Patricia, 32, his now ex-wife, was found guilty of raping one of her daughters and of prostituting her other two children, and was given 16 years.

During his summing up, the chief prosecutor, Yvan Auriel, said that the couple were among "those people who must unfortunately be removed for a long period of time from our society in order that they become fully aware of the horror of their acts".

Investigators said the couple, aided by Franck V's father, persuaded their own children and those of friends, relatives and neighbours to submit to the abuse by saying they were going to "play doctors and nurses" or "the lock and key game", and offering them a "first prize" of a camping trip.

The case revealed stories of incest and rape going back several generations. More than a dozen of the defendants had suffered sexual abuse themselves as children.

Many are also illiterate, and at the trial appeared not to grasp the gravity of the offences. Asked at one stage what she considered her greatest failings as a mother, Patricia V said: "I'm not great at cleaning, and I smoke. I can't think of anything else."

The victims, 26 girls and 19 boys, now in care or living with foster parents, had simply been "demolished", lawyers said. Some barely speak, or scream when approached by strangers; one girl was forced to perform oral sex so often that she cannot eat in the company of adults.

Another, identified only as Marine, was raped by 45 people including her father.

Residents of Angers said yesterday that they were simply relieved the trial was over. "Nobody sane can identify with what's been said, with what we've heard since March," a woman told French radio. "You can't imagine you're talking about human beings."

Quote:

The punishments he would face for this crime in Europe are similar to California law

You keep running your mouth but you have no evidence to support your claim. I do.

Unlawful sexual intercourse

In France the law stipulates a maximum of 15 years in jail for a rape on a minor.

The judges have all latitude to adapt the penalty to the case and the average sentencing is 6 years in jail.

Being a bully and mocking your opposition only works in some settings, here at a2k one is expected to show up with some actual evidence.

Sex law in France is a new idea, they did not do it till relatively recently.

The typical US age of consent in 1880 was 10. All sorts of age of consent laws have been considered all over the world. That doesn't mean they were implemented and it doesn't mean the French are any different than the rest of Europe or the US. The French were among the first countries to codify an age of consent in their legal code and as it spread around Europe, so did age of consent laws. When European countries increased the age of consent in the 19th century, the US did not follow suit. I don't know why you consider the US as a paragon of child safety. History doesn't back this up.

he is facing charges that carry far more prison time.

That's why I fear that case is already judged by people whose knowledge of justice is close to zero.
Are you pro-death penalty?

Why do you not google the subject and learn the facts ? The case is not settle in any manner the plea deal was never approve by the judge and the whole manner is wide open and had been since the man ran.

You keep running your mouth but you have no evidence to support your claim. I do.

2005 in France, no sex criminal registry, the guilty can not be named, and look at those jail terms!!!In America we would be crying for the death penalty, never mind ever getting out of jail.

Being a bully and mocking your opposition only works in some settings, here at a2k one is expected to show up with some actual evidence.