Model Says Roman Polanski Raped Her As Teen In 1972
Image by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images
A former German actress and model has told Swiss authorities that film director Roman Polanski raped her at his mountain chalet in 1972 when she was 15 years old, local prosecutors said on Wednesday.
A lawyer for the 84-year-old French-Polish film director said he was aware of the allegation by Renate Langer and he dismissed it as an “absurd” attempt to generate media attention.
Police in the northeastern Swiss canton of St. Gallen confirmed on Wednesday they had received a complaint from Langer, 61, last month about an alleged rape in Polanski’s house in 1972. The New York Times first reported the allegation.
Efforts by Reuters in Germany to contact the former actress or her lawyers were not immediately successful.
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.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
