Polanski Victim's Book Uses Picture He Took

By LINDA DEUTSCH
AP Special Correspondent
LOS ANGELES
The woman who was sexually assaulted by director Roman Polanski when she was 13 has written a memoir that will feature a cover photo shot by Polanski three weeks before he drugged her and had sex with her.

Samantha Geimer’s publisher says that during her 1993 lawsuit against Polanski, Geimer obtained rights to the pictures Polanski took during two photo sessions in 1977, one of which led to charges that he plied her with half a Quaalude and champagne and raped her.

Polanski, who pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse, was ordered to pay her $500,000 and to turn over the photos.

Geimer has said she forgives him and that she is writing the book to reclaim her identity.

Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, said it will be releasing Geimer’s book “The Girl: Emerging from the Shadow of Roman Polanski” this fall.

According to Atria, Geimer will provide “insight into many dimensions of the story that have never previously been revealed.”

Filmmaker Marina Zenovich interviewed Geimer for her documentary “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” and for a soon-to-be-released second film, “Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out.” She said she was not surprised by the announcement of the upcoming book.

Although Geimer has declined interview requests in advance of publication, she issued a statement last year when the book project was announced.

The case has haunted both Geimer and Polanski, with the 79-year-old director living as a fugitive from justice in France where he is immune from extradition as a French citizen.

A warrant for Polanski’s arrest remains active, effectively barring him from returning to the U.S., which he fled in 1978 on the eve of sentencing for a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.

Polanski’s agent Jeff Berg said in an email that Polanski had no comment.

The case’s prosecutor, David Walgren, who is now a judge, also declined to comment.

Polanski, whose films include “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” is restricted by an Interpol warrant in effect in 188 countries, but he moves freely between Switzerland and France. He was freed from Swiss house arrest in 2010 after the government refused to deport him to the U.S. He had been arrested when he tried to attend a film festival in Switzerland, and a lengthy court case ensued in Europe and the United States.

Geimer’s lawyer, Lawrence Silver, says in the book that he pursued both the photos and negatives from Polanski’s photo sessions with Geimer, which took place at the home of actor Jack Nicholson while Nicholson was away.