A fourth woman has come forward to accuse film director Roman Polanski of raping her in 1972 when she she was only 15 years old.
Former German actress Renate Langer, 61, said the director raped her at a house in Gstaad in February 1972.
Langer has met with the police in St.Gallen, Switzerland on September 26 to discuss her allegation against the director. Another office would determine whether Langer can pursue a criminal complaint.
Switzerland has done away with its statue of limitations on child sex abuse cases. However, the law limits prosecution in cases that happened many years ago. Langer said that she went to the Swiss police because she is convinced that statue of limitations would permit her complaint to be investigated.
Langer had not previously spoken about the alleged rape nor had she reported anything to the police. She said she also did not share what was done to her to her family and friends at that time, out of concern for her parents. She added that she only told about it to a boyfriend years after the alleged has been committed.
Langer said she has found strength to tell her story now after she read the account of a woman who came forward in August to share her sexual abuse experience with Polanski. The former German actress also added that she’s braver now because her parents are no longer around, and she need not worry about them.
She recalled that she was working for a modeling agency as a high school student in Munich at that time. She traveled to visit the director in Gstaad, with her parents’ consent, because he expressed interest in casting her in a movie.
Langer is accusing Polanski of raping her in his home then. She said she was unable to defend herself from his attack, even as she tried to stop him. Langer shared that she left the next day, ashamed and confused, but chose not to reveal what happened to her parents because she was afraid it would devastate them, and her mother might suffer from a heart attack.
She received a call from Polanski a month after the attack. She said the director apologized to her for what he did to her, then went on to offer her a role in his movie “Che?”. She accepted with his assurance that he would treat her professionally.
Langer said she flew to Rome alone to accept a small role in Polanski’s film. She shared that the director did not try to make sexual advances while they were filming. She revealed, however, that she was abused again by Polanski one night in Rome when she was alone in the house she had been sharing with others. She said he raped her again despite her efforts to stop him by throwing a bottle of wine and a bottle of perfume at him.
Three other women have accused Polanski of sexual abuses. Polanski’s lawyer, Harland Braun, declined to comment on Langer’s accusation. The 84-year-old French-Polish director pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer,who was just 13 at the time of the abuse.
Polanski has been living in exile from the U.S. since he escaped from his country in 1978 on the eve of his sentencing in the Geimer case. He has since lived in France. France does not extradite its citizens. Polanski’s lawyers have also been fighting for his international arrest warrant to be lifted.
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