[Cool Teen Sites]
Celebrities Accused/Convicted of Statutory Rape
From (http://www.spiritone.com/~law/celeb_statutory.html)
Woody Allen - In the book, "What Falls Away," Mia Farrow described her shock at
first discovering
Allen had taken pornographic photos of her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn and then that
he was
having an affair with the 17-year-old. (Allen and Soon-Yi were married in late 1997.)
Sonny Bono - Singer-politician. In 1963, 28-year-old Bono met, and married, 16-year-old
Cherilyn La
Pierre, better known as Cher.
Chuck Berry - In 1961, the great songwriter was convicted in St. Louis of transporting a
14-year-old
girl across a state line. He ended up in jail for a year-and-a-half.
Joey Buttafuoco - 1993 Nov 15, A judge in Mineola, N.Y., sentenced Joey Buttafuoco to six
months in
jail for the statutory rape of 16-year-old Amy Fisher, who shot and wounded Buttafuoco's
wife, Mary
Jo.
Sergei Federov - Red Wings star with 16-year-old sweetheart, tennis player Anna
Kournikova.
Errol Flynn - Film star in of the 30's, 40's and 50's. Was acquitted for statutory rape
charges involving
two teenage girls in 1942, but the scandal only increased his popularity. "In like
Flynn" became the
phrase young men used when their chances of scoring a babe (and getting away with it) were
high.
Kelsey Grammer - star of the Emmy-winning comedy "Frasier." In 1995, authorities
in Arizona decided
not to prosecute Grammer for statutory rape, and a New Jersey grand jury declined to
indict him on the
same charge. Both accusations were made by the same 17-year-old girl.
Don Johnson - At fourteen, Melanie Griffith left home to move in with the actor who was
then
twenty-two. Johnson has never voiced any concern about the wisdom of having an affair with
such a
young girl. In fact, Johnson claims that Melanie was the aggressor in the relationship.
" She pursued
me", he told Entertainment Weekly.
Michael Kennedy - Bobby Kennedy's son, recently exposed for statutorily raping his
children's
underage baby-sitter, and then attempting to destroy her when word got out.
Jerry Lee Lewis - In 1958, it came out that piano madman Jerry Lee Lewis had married his
14-year-old
cousin, Myra Brown. Even though there were wedding bands involved, the revelation
virtually
destroyed Lewis' young career.
Rob Lowe - TV and film star. Former brat packer. Back in 1988, during the Democratic
National
Convention in Atlanta, Lowe taped himself in compromising positions with a 16-year-old
girl and a
young woman. Lowe agreed to perform 20 hours of community service to avoid criminal
charges.
Roman Polanski - The director fled the country in 1979 rather than face sentencing for the
statutory
rape of a 13-year-old girl. The Polish auteur went to a more understanding Europe, where
he promptly
established a relationship with the then 15-year-old Nastassja Kinski. Polanski can't
return to the
States for fear of arrest.
Polanski may return to face sex charges:
FROM (http://mrshowbiz.go.com/archive/news/Todays_Stories/971002/polanski101.html)
Roman Polanski May Return To Face Sex Crime Charges
After a twenty-year exile from the United States because of a conviction
for having sex with a minor, director Roman Polanski (Chinatown) may
finally end his fugitive status and return to the U.S. to face sentencing for his
crime. Los Angeles news station KTLA reports that Polanski has made a
deal with the Los Angeles district attorney's office wherein he would not go
to jail for having engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse with a
thirteen-year-old girl. The Los Angeles district attorney denies that a deal
has been brokered, but court records show that Polanski's attorney has met
twice with the D.A. and an L.A. Superior Court judge in the last year,
seeking to find a safe way for his client to come back to the States.
Polanski was arrested in 1977 at the home of Jack Nicholson* and charged
with six felony counts, including rape, after he had sex with a
thirteen-year-old girl. The director pled guilty to having sex with a minor,
but fled to France before his sentencing was to take place. Interestingly, the
girl he had sex with--now a thirty-four-year-old mother living in
Hawaii--says she thinks Polanski should be able to return. "I have no
objections to his return to the U.S., if that is the case," she told KTLA. "I'm
glad that he's worked out his legal problems." Polanski has lived in Paris for
the past twenty years.
*who by the way was the star of "Carnal Knowledge"
Polanski Victim Reveals Herself
by Joal Ryan and Marcus Errico Nov 3, 1997, 1:30 PM PT
FROM: (http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,2029,00.html)
Samantha Geimer--who, as a 13-year-old girl, was seduced by Roman Polanski--is going
public for the first time in 20
years. She says she has no problem with the director's possible return to the U.S.
Now a married mother of three, Geimer, 34, reveals her identity in an Inside Edition
interview airing tonight and
tomorrow. (Although she has discussed the incident with reporters in the past, she has
never allowed herself to be
photographed or her name to be used.)
Since 1978, Polanski, the then-42-year-old French-born filmmaker of Chinatown and
Rosemary's Baby, has lived the
fugitive lifestyle. That's when he took the adolescent Geimer to Jack Nicholson's
Hollywood home (while the actor
was away)--plying the adolescent with Quaaludes and champagne, and then having sex with
her. He fled to Paris
shortly after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
Five other felony counts were
dropped.
Polanski's lawyers have begun negotiating with Los Angeles prosecutors to allow the
now-64-year-old director back
into the States without serving jail time.
Geimer, who lives with her family in Hawaii, says it's fine with her. "I really wish
this would be over, that he would
reach agreement with the courts, no longer be a fugitive."
She also tells Inside Edition that she wouldn't call the episode rape, but the sex was not
consensual. "I perceived
it as he made me have sex with him," she says. "The word 'rape' always brings to
mind for me a level of...violence that
wasn't there."
Polanski and his Hollywood pals are probably heartened by Geimer's remarks. His fugitive
status has made headaches
for studios doing business with him. The publicity tour for his 1994 adaptation of the
Broadway play, Death and the
Maiden, for instance, had to be conducted on a boat in neutral waters to avoid risking
Polanski's arrest.
Roman Polanski: "I'm Worse than Clinton"
by Emily Farache Nov 15, 1999, 1:00 PM PT
FROM: (http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,5604,00.html)
Twenty years later, Roman Polanski admits he did it.
Back in 1978, the acclaimed director of Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby fled the country
amid allegations he raped
a 13-year-old girl. He hasn't stepped foot in America since. Now, the French-born
director, who once said, "When you
are 12, you no longer need the parents," is finally accepting blame for the crime.
"There was no plot against me. There was no setup. It was all my fault. I think my
wrongdoing was much greater than
Bill Clinton's," the 66-year-old says in the December issue of Esquire magazine.
"There's a different justice for people who are public figures and those who are
not," he adds. Indeed.
Polanski, then 42, took 13-year-old Samantha Geimer to Jack Nicholson's house (he was out
of town), loaded her up
with Quaaludes and champagne and then had sex with her. He pleaded guilty to one count of
unlawful sexual
intercourse with a minor, but fled to Europe to avoid a prison sentence of up to 50 years.
In his autobiography, the filmmaker said the judge who heard the case reneged on a deal
that would have had
Polanski behind bars for just 90 days, and, faced with the prospect of years in the
slammer, he decided to take off.
As recently as two years ago, lawyers represented Polanksi were negotiating for the
director's return to the
States--with him serving no jail time--but nothing came of those talks.
About the same time, Geimer came forward to say she wouldn't mind if Polanski came back to
the U.S.
"I really wish this would be over, that he would reach agreement with courts, no
longer be a fugitive," she said.
November 5, 1997 Polanski's Victim Speaks Out
FROM:
(http://mrshowbiz.go.com/archive/news/Todays_Stories/971105/polanski11597.html)
The woman whom director Roman Polanski is accused of raping when she was thirteen
years old says she "wants to let the past be gone" and thinks it's time
Polanski's exile came to an end. In what's billed as her first television interview,
Samantha Geimer, now a thirty-four-year-old married mother of three living in
Hawaii, tells Inside Edition, "I really wish this would be over, that he would reach
an agreement with the courts [and] no longer be a fugitive."
In the interview, which aired on Tuesday and Wednesday, Geimer gives details of the
infamous incident that took place when Polanski was taking pictures of her at the home of
Jack Nicholson, who was not there at the time. "I was scared because I knew this was
not appropriate," she said. "[He said], 'Why don't you just come in and lay down
for a minute?' And I
really just tried to get it over with. I cried after it was all over and I was back in the
car. He told me, 'Don't tell you mom.'" Geimer says she protested "a number of
times," but was afraid of angering Polanski if she objected more forcefully. She says
time has given her perspective on the incident. "I suppose, yes, I was a victim, but
I don't feel like a victim now.
He wasn't hurting me and he wasn't forceful or mean," she said.
Polanski, now sixty-four, was arrested in 1977 and charged with six criminal counts,
including "rape by use of drugs" in the incident with Geimer. A year later, the
Rosemary's Baby director, under terms of a plea bargain, pled guilty to one charge of
"unlawful sexual intercourse," and served forty-two days in a psychiatric
prison. But he fled from the United States to
France when he learned the judge had changed his mind and planned to sentence him to
additional jail time if he didn't agree to be deported. In 1993, he settled out of court
in a civil suit with Geimer. Part of the agreement was that he could not discuss the
incident.
Polanski, whose recent works have included 1992's Bitter Moon with Hugh Grant and 1994's
Death and the Maiden with Sigourney Weaver, has reportedly been trying to work out a deal
with the Los Angeles attorney's office that would allow him to return to the States
without facing jail time. "Every agent in town would love to represent him,"
entertainment lawyer Eric Weissman was quoted as saying in Wednesday's London Daily
Telegraph. "I think directors who have scored great hits and are believed to have
unusual talents are always in demand." Polanski's plans to direct John Travolta in
The Double last year fell apart when the actor fled the Paris set days before filming was
to begin.
The thrice-married Polanski's second wife, Sharon Tate, was eight-months pregnant when she
was murdered by Charles Manson in 1969. He is currently married to actress Emmanuelle
Seigner (Frantic).
Elvis Presley - Priscilla was only a 14-year-old ninth grader when Elvis began dating her
in 1959
during his army tour in Germany. At the time he met Priscilla, he had an even younger girl
living in
his house (Moore, That’s Alright, Elvis, p. 162). In 1962, the 15-year-old Priscilla
moved in with Elvis
at his Graceland mansion in Memphis and they lived together for five years before they
married in May
1967.
Jerry Seinfeld - His four-year relationship with Shoshanna Longstein began when she was
still in high
school. At the on-set of the affair, Jerry was 38 and she was 17. Jerry made no secret of
the
relationship and publicly paraded his jail bait on his arm.