UPDATE:

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles prosecutors have met with a British actress who claims she was sexually abused by director Roman Polanski when she was 16 in Paris.

Forty-two-year-old Charlotte Lewis, speaking at a news conference Friday in Los Angeles, says Polanski abused her in 1982, four years before she appeared in Polanski’s “Pirates” film.

District attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons acknowledges Lewis met with a prosecutor handling Polanski’s 33-year-old sex case involving another girl. Gibbons would not comment further.

As Steven Zeitchik reported for the LA Times yesterday, there is another petition currently circulating around Cannes this year to free Roman Polanski. The petitioners are asking the Swiss government to refuse an extradition request from California. A few days ago, a California judge denied Polanski’s request to unseal testimony in the 33-year-old case.

It’s been pointed out that the laws today – thankfully – are much tougher than a generation ago and Polanski’s deal would not be cut today. Even with the plea, Polanski fled and segments of the Hollywood community believe that all should be forgiven for the sake of his craft. Ridiculous. Rape in of itself is devastating to women let alone a 13-year-old girl. The crime is compounded when high-profile offenders’ influence and wealth tries to mask accountability.

Polanski was accused of plying a 13-year-old girl with champagne and part of a Quaalude during a modeling shoot in 1977 and raping her. He was initially indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy. Polanski pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse; in exchange, the remaining charges were dropped, and the judge agreed to send Polanski to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation.