(JTA) — A former French model and actress has accused director Roman Polanski of raping her when she was a teenager.
Valentine Monnier told Le Parisien newspaper in an article published on Friday that the alleged rape happened in 1975 at Polanski’s chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. She was 18 at the time. She called the alleged rape “extremely violent.”
Two women who also were staying at the chalet, and who Monnier told about the alleged rape at the time, confirmed her story to the newspaper.
Monnier said she decided to speak out due to the release of Polanski’s latest film, “An Officer and a Spy,” about the wrongfully convicted French army officer Alfred Dreyfus. She said she contacted the Los Angeles police about the attack in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Polanski’s attorney on Sunday told the French news agency AFP that the director may sue the newspaper for publishing the accusations.
Polanski, 86, pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer when she was 13 but, in 1978, fled to Europe rather than face a possible jail sentence. Polanski has since lived outside of the United States and avoided extradition to California. Other women have accused him of rape or sexual abuse over the years.
Raised in Poland, Polanski survived Krakow’s Jewish ghetto as a child and, after launching his film career in Poland after the war, moved to the United States in 1968.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
