Roman Polanski’s Victim Asks Court to Drop Case

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The woman at the center of the 40-year-old sexual abuse case against Roman Polanski asked a Los Angeles County judge on Friday to end the legal proceedings in the case.

“I would implore you to do this for me, out of mercy for myself,” Samantha Geimer, now 54, told Judge Scott M. Gordon of Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to Agence France-Presse. Ms. Geimer has spoken out in recent years on behalf of Mr. Polanski.

Mr. Polanski, now 83, pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with Ms. Geimer when she was 13 years old. He fled the country in 1978 before his sentencing. His lawyers have been fighting for years to lift an international arrest warrant, and he has not returned to the country since it’s been in effect. Judge Gordon denied Mr. Polanski’s own request in April that the case be resolved without his presence.

According to Agence France-Presse, the judge said on Friday that he would take Ms. Geimer’s request under consideration as he decides whether to unseal documents that Mr. Polanski asserts show he reached a plea agreement in 1977 to serve 48 days in jail.

This is the first time Ms. Geimer has appeared in court on behalf of the Oscar-winning director, who is seeking to avoid further jail time in this case.

“Your words mean a lot to this court,” Judge Gordon told Ms. Geimer, according to the news service. He did not say specifically when he would issue a ruling.

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