Polanski victim wants him to be forgiven

For 30 years the Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has had to stay away from America for fear that he would be arrested for unlawfully having sex with a 13-year-old girl. However his victim, Samantha Geimer, now feels the matter should be forgotten. Geimer, 45 and a mother of three sons, says: “I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society. I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no one has ever come out ever - besides me - and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory ... (but) I can live with it."

Geimer made her remarks in an interview discussing a new documentary about the case, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which was shown at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals and is due to be broadcast on the US cable channel HBO on Monday.

Polanski, now 74, was charged in 1978 on several counts, including rape by use of drugs, but in a deal pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, a crime committed during a photo session with Geimer. Before he was sentenced he fled to France, where he is a citizen and cannot be extradited by the United States. He has continued to make films, including The Pianist for which was he won the best director Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards. Because of his fugitive status, he was unable to visit Hollywood to collect his award.