LAPD probe claim disgraced director Roman Polanski took photos of a half-naked ten-year-old girl and molested her on a beach in 1975

  • Artist Marianne Barnard claims Roman Polanski told her to take off her bikini top when she was ten and molested her on a Malibu, California beach in 1975
  • She said she worked up the courage to finally break her silence after in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal
  • LAPD police say they investigating the claims - even though they are so old they pass the statue of limitations so cannot result in criminal charges 
  • Polanski was charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977
  • He plead guilty to statutory rape but fled to Paris after he learned the judge planned to reject the plea bargain
  • Eleven women have now come forward with allegations against Polanski 
  • Polanski continued to make movies as a fugitive - even being awarded Oscars, for movies such as The Pianist

The LAPD have announced they are investigating claims disgraced director Roman Polanski molested a ten-year-old girl in 1975 - even though the statute of limitations has long expired on the case.

Female artist Marianne Barnard claimed in October that Polanski had sexually abused her on a Malibu, California beach when she was child.

She told The Sun she was finally inspired to come forward by actresses like Rose McGowan who have been speaking out in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. 

Even though the allegations are too old for charges to be brought against the convicted child molester, cops say they can use any evidence they find to help prosecute other cases. 

The LAPD have announced they are investigating claims disgraced director Roman Polanski molested a ten-year-old girl in 1975

The LAPD have announced they are investigating claims disgraced director Roman Polanski molested a ten-year-old girl in 1975

California artist Marianne Barnard came forward in October alleging Roman Polanski sexually abused her when she was 10

California artist Marianne Barnard came forward in October alleging Roman Polanski sexually abused her when she was 10

Los Angeles Police confirmed they will 'always take a report from any victim and then determine if the case is within the statute of limitations'. 

Polanski, remains a fugitive in France where he has been living since in 1978 where he fled a sentencing for sexually assaulting a then-13-year-old girl. 

Polanski's attorney Harland Braun, told Page Six that the director had hired an investigator to carry out their own probe, speaking to the accuser's relatives and working with the police. 

'I believe that a competent LAPD investigation will prove the whole story to be bogus,' he said. 

Barnard, now in her early 50s, claims ex-convict Polanski snapped photographs of her half-naked body on a beach in Malibu, California back in 1975. He allegedly then asked her to change into an open fur coat and molested her. 

Barnard said she believed the beach photographs were being taken for a magazine

Barnard (pictured left and right as a younger girl) said she believed the beach photographs were being taken for a magazine

Polanski, remains a fugitive in France where he has been living as a fugitive since in 1978, (he's pictured in 1969)

Polanski, remains a fugitive in France where he has been living as a fugitive since in 1978, (he's pictured in 1969)

The Santa Barbara-born artist said her mother initiated the meeting, and brought her to a beach near their home, where she would meet Polanski for a photo shoot.

'The beach is south of where a restaurant called Ted's El Rancho used to be at the bottom of Coastline Drive and Pacific Coast Highway near where I grew up in Malibu,' Barnard said.

'There was a group of rocks there and he took the photographs of me on those rocks.

'At first I had the understanding I was just going to the beach with my mom. We were there for a little while by ourselves, and then he was there.'

The impressionable Barnard said she believed the beach photographs were being snapped for a magazine.

Barnard voiced details on the incident to her Twitter page and Care 2 Petition 

Barnard voiced details on the incident to her Twitter page and Care 2 Petition 

Barnard decided to finally break her silence after getting inspiration from actresses like Rose McGowan and others
She claims ex-convict Polanski snapped photos of her naked body while she was wearing a bikini and he asked her to change into an open fur coat on a beach in Malibu, California in 1975

Barnard (left and right) decided to finally break her silence in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal 

'First, he was taking pictures of me in the bikini, then it was with the coat then he said take off the bikini top, which I was comfortable with as I was only 10 and I often ran around with no top on,' she said, according to The Sun report.

'But then he wanted me to take my bikini bottoms off - I started to feel very uncomfortable. Then at some point I realized my mom had gone.

'I don't know where she went and I didn't really register her leaving but she was no longer there ... Then he molested me.'

Barnard admitted to suffering 'post traumatic stress disorder and claustrophobia' for decades since the alleged abuse happened.

Polanski (pictured left in 2017) has continued to make movies while living as a fugitive
Polanski pictured with then-wife Sharon Tate at their wedding in 1968, before she was murdered by the Manson Family

Polanski (pictured left in 2017, and with then-wife Sharon Tate at their wedding in 1968, before she was murdered by the Manson Family) has continued to make movies while living as a fugitive 

A total of eleven women have now come forward to accuse Polanski of molesting them when they were children.

They women described how the convicted child rapist sexually assaulted them in the late 1960s and 70s before he went on the run for the statutory rape of another underage girl.

Of the new accusers, two say they were attacked by him in 1969, the same year in which his first wife Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Charles Manson family. It is not clear whether the alleged attacks happened before or after her slaying.  The other alleged attack happened in 1976 when the woman was 12.  

Mallory Millet, 77, who starred in Tootsie under the stage name Mallory Jones, was the latest alleged vicitm to accuse Polanski last month.

She says she was 29 and a struggling actress when she was invited to a dinner with the director and her friends following his wife, pregnant actress Sharon Tate, being murdered by Charles Manson's followers.

When her friends originally invited her to dinner, Mallory says 'They asked if they could bring Roman Polanski because he was devastated over the loss of his wife and they thought I might be able to cheer him up.'

In her interview with The Sun, Mallory says the first incident happened at the Plaza Hotel in February of 1970 and her friends warned her the director, now 84, was on LSD when she arrived.    

Mallory came forward through the website imetpolanski.com. Several such websites have popped up over the past two months for various powerful men who are being accused of similar alleged behavior for women to be able to come forward with their own stories.

'He should be removed from the Oscars academy, he should be vilified, he should be shunned.' 

Harvey Weinstein was removed from the academy in October, but Polanski has since remained on. 

Barnard has now created a petition against the Oscar Award-winning director, urging for Polanski to be kicked out of The Academy.

Polanski remains on the run after fleeing the US following his 1977 attack on 13-year-old Samantha Geimer (pictured in 2017)

Polanski remains on the run after fleeing the US following his 1977 attack on 13-year-old Samantha Geimer (pictured in 2017)

'The board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently voted to revoke the membership of film producer, Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexually harassing and assaulting countless women for nearly 30 years,' Barnard wrote.

'It is a small consequence for him considering his crimes and the great amount of harm he has caused me and his other victims.'

Polanski remains on the run after fleeing the US following his 1977 attack on 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. 

Yet he has continued to make movies and has even won awards while on the run as a convicted child molester, winning an Academy Award for best director for his 2002 film 'The Pianist' and was nominated for 1974's 'Chinatown' and 1979's 'Tess.'

He has been pleading for years to have the 1978 arrest warrant thrown out so that he can return to America.

He fled to France days before he was due to go to court over the attack. At the time, Polanski had reached a deal with prosecutors which meant he would serve a shorter sentence.  

ROMAN POLANSKI'S ACCUSERS

Jane Doe # 1 - 1969, aged 10 

Jane Doe # 2 - 1969, aged 16 

Jane Doe #3 - 1972, aged 9 

Renate Langer - 1972, aged 15 in Gstaad

German actress Renate Langer in 1978 aged 21

German actress Renate Langer in 1978 aged 21

German actress Renate Langer claimed on October 3 that she was attacked by him in Gstaad in 1972. Swiss police are investigating her accusation. 

She revealed how he attacked her in an interview with The New York Times, admitting that she was too afraid to tell her parents about it at the time. 

'My mother would have had a heart attack. 

'I felt ashamed and embarrassed and lost and solo.' 

Ranger spoke out this year after her parents' deaths.

Police in Switzerland, which has no statute of limitations laws, are now investigating her claims. 

 

Mallory Millet - 1970, aged 29 in New York and a second time, unclear when

The struggling actress was invited out to dinner with the director and her friends at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

She was warned ahead of time the director was on LSD 

'We went up to Roman's suite to have some after-dinner coffee and drinks but (friends) Michael and Minda left and I was suddenly left on my own with Roman.'

'When I had first arrived they told me that Roman was tripping on LSD and he had started behaving quite strangely - whereas I was very sober - so I thought it was time to leave anyway.'

'But as I tried to leave he wouldn't let me and he attempted to rape me very, very forcefully.'

'He would not take no for an answer and he tried to have forcible intercourse with me.' 

She said despite the alleged encounter, Polanski met up with her again and apologized for his behavior.

'I ended up alone with him, he tried to put his arms around me and hold me down and I had to flee for a second time.'

 

Robin 'M' - 1973, aged 16 in California 

In August, a woman who identified herself only as Robin M. claimed at a press conference that she was attacked by Polanski when she was 16 in 1973. 

She said the incident happened in southern California but would not go into further detail. 

She is not suing him but offered to testify against him to stop his 1978 arrest warrant from being dropped. 

Robin M, another of his accusers, came forward in August to say Polanski molested her when she was 16 in 1973. She is pictured with her lawyer Gloria Allred holding up a picture of herself as a teenager 

Robin M, another of his accusers, came forward in August to say Polanski molested her when she was 16 in 1973. She is pictured with her lawyer Gloria Allred holding up a picture of herself as a teenager 

At her press conference, Robin said she told one friend after the attack but did not confide in anyone else because she feared her father would kill Polanski and end up in jail.  

'The day after it happened, I did tell one friend that Mr Polanski had done that to me,' she said, reading from a prepared statement.

'The reason, with this exception, that I kept it to myself is that I didn't want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life,' she said  

 

Marianne Barnard - 1975, aged 10 in Malibu

Barnard, an artist, said her mother arranged her meeting with Polanski when she was 10 in order for her to have her photograph taken. 

'At first I had the understanding I was just going to the beach with my mom. We were there for a little while by ourselves, and then he was there. 

Last month, Californian artist Marianne Barnard claimed he molested her when she was 10 in 1975
Last month, Californian artist Marianne Barnard claimed he molested her when she was 10 in 1975. She is pictured as a child

Last month, Californian artist Marianne Barnard claimed he molested her when she was 10 in 1975. She is pictured as a child, right 

''First, he was taking pictures of me in the bikini, then it was with the coat then he said take off the bikini top, which I was comfortable with as I was only 10 and I often ran around with no top on. 

'But then he wanted me to take my bikini bottoms off - I started to feel very uncomfortable. 

'Then at some point I realized my mom had gone.

 'I don't know where she went and I didn't really register her leaving but she was no longer there ... Then he molested me

 

Jane Doe #4 - 1976, aged 15 in Gstaad

 The unidentified woman said she was 15 when she was at a dinner party with Polanski, Jack Nicholson, his girlfriend Angelica Huston, and her parents who worked in the film industry. 

She told the website imetpolanski.com: 'I sat on my left side, put his hand on my leg. 

'He then proceeded to touch my genitals and tried to squeeze and rub it with his hand, all that under the table in front of my father's face,' she said.

 

Jane Doe # 5 - 1976, aged 12 

 

Samantha Geimer - 1977, aged 13 in Hollywood 

Geimer is the most well-known of those who have accused Polanski of sexual assault. In 1977, he gave her Quaaludes before raping and sodomizing her at Jack Nicholson's house in Los Angeles. 

She was just 13 at the time. Polanski was arrested and was due to go to jail the following year after pleading guilty to a lesser charge but he fled the country at the last minute in fear that prosecutors had lied to him. 

Samantha Geimer in 2013. She was raped by Polanski in 1977
Samantha Geinmer aged 13

Samantha Geimer (left in 2013) was raped by Polanski when she was 13 in 1977 (seen that year, right) but has since forgiven him. He fled the country to avoid being jailed for it in 1978

He has been on the run in France, where he is a citizen, and Switzerland ever since. Neither will extradited him to the US. 

Geimer has kept in touch with him and was awarded a $500,000 settlement from him. She has spoken openly of how she has forgiven him and pleaded for a Los Angeles judge to stop the warrant for his arrest which still stands. 

 

Charlotte Lewis - 1983, aged 16  in Paris

Charlotte Lewis, a British actress, also claims to have been assaulted by Polanski. 

She said he forced himself on her as she auditioned for a role in one of his films in Paris in 1983. By this time, Polanski was already on the run for having raped Geimer six years earlier.  

She reported her accusations to police in Los Angeles but not in Paris where the alleged attack took place. 

British actress Charlotte Lewis says Polanski attacked her in Paris when she was 16. They are pictured above in 1986, three years after the alleged assault, during the presentation of his film Pirates at the Cannes Film Festival 

British actress Charlotte Lewis says Polanski attacked her in Paris when she was 16. They are pictured above in 1986, three years after the alleged assault, during the presentation of his film Pirates at the Cannes Film Festival 

In 2010, she said: 'Hollywood is giving the wrong message to pedophiles.' 

'He sexually abused me and manipulated me in the worst way,' she claimed. 'He forced himself upon me.

'He took advantage of me and I have lived with the effects of his behavior ever since. He has scarred me.' 

The role was for Pirates, Polanski's film, and she was given the part. 

Lewis (above in 2010, when she revealed her accusations) said at the time that Hollywood gave pedophiles the 'wrong message' by allowing them continued success 

Lewis (above in 2010, when she revealed her accusations) said at the time that Hollywood gave pedophiles the 'wrong message' by allowing them continued success 

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LAPD probe claim Roman Polanski molested girl in 1975

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