British actress quizzed over Polanski allegation
Source: Agencies |
May 16, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
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LOS Angeles County prosecutors have met with a British actress who claims she was sexually abused by director Roman Polanski in his Paris apartment when she was 16 - years before she appeared in one of his movies.
Charlotte Lewis, 42, said on Friday that Polanski abused her "in the worst possible way" sometime in the 1980s.
Lewis provided no evidence to support her claims, and her attorney, Gloria Allred, did not permit her to answer questions during a news conference in her office.
However, Allred said the woman provided evidence to a detective and officials from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. She refused to answer questions about whether her client's allegations involved drugs or rape.
"Our detectives did conduct the interview but the department has not begun an investigation," said police spokesman Richard French. He did not know when the interview was conducted.
It was unclear what year the alleged assault took place.
"He took advantage of me and I have lived with the effects of his behavior ever since it occurred," said Lewis, reading from a prepared statement. "All I want is justice."
Allred said that, to her knowledge, no criminal complaint or lawsuit was made in France.
The duty officer for the French Justice Ministry said he was not aware if the British actress had filed a complaint in France about her allegation.
A statement from Polanski's legal team in the United States said his attorneys had no information about the latest allegations "but we do know that our district attorney continues to refuse to provide the Swiss government with accurate and complete information relevant to the extradition issue."
Polanski, Oscar-winning director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist," is under house arrest at his Swiss chateau in connection with a 33-year-old case in which he was accused of drugging a 13-year-old girl and raping her.
Lewis had a role in Polanski's 1986 movie "Pirates."
Charlotte Lewis, 42, said on Friday that Polanski abused her "in the worst possible way" sometime in the 1980s.
Lewis provided no evidence to support her claims, and her attorney, Gloria Allred, did not permit her to answer questions during a news conference in her office.
However, Allred said the woman provided evidence to a detective and officials from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. She refused to answer questions about whether her client's allegations involved drugs or rape.
"Our detectives did conduct the interview but the department has not begun an investigation," said police spokesman Richard French. He did not know when the interview was conducted.
It was unclear what year the alleged assault took place.
"He took advantage of me and I have lived with the effects of his behavior ever since it occurred," said Lewis, reading from a prepared statement. "All I want is justice."
Allred said that, to her knowledge, no criminal complaint or lawsuit was made in France.
The duty officer for the French Justice Ministry said he was not aware if the British actress had filed a complaint in France about her allegation.
A statement from Polanski's legal team in the United States said his attorneys had no information about the latest allegations "but we do know that our district attorney continues to refuse to provide the Swiss government with accurate and complete information relevant to the extradition issue."
Polanski, Oscar-winning director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist," is under house arrest at his Swiss chateau in connection with a 33-year-old case in which he was accused of drugging a 13-year-old girl and raping her.
Lewis had a role in Polanski's 1986 movie "Pirates."
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