Roman Polanski's Alleged Victim Offers Him Forgiveness: 'I'll Forgive Him for Myself'
Roman Polanski's alleged rape victim, Samantha Geimer, has published her memoir, "The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski," which includes details of the alleged attack. But Geimer has also offered forgiveness to the man she says raped her.
"As different as our lives have been, we do share common sense of battle fatigue when it comes to the court system and the media," Geimer wrote in her book. "We both been punished. We both want to move on. We both might be considered victims."
Geimer claimed that Polanski drugged and raped her when she was just 13, essentially changing her life forever. Polanski was arrested and charged with the sexual assault of Geimer; he pleaded not guilty but later took a plea arrangement that saw five of the six charges against him dropped.
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"If you go through your life carrying hate in your heart, you really only hurt yourself," Geimer wrote. "I didn't forgive him for him. I did it for me. Forgiveness is not a sign of weakness; it's a sign of strength. Why should I walk around carrying anger? That only hurts me. Yes, he's responsible. The fall-out was terrible; I wouldn't want to not hold him accountable."
It's similar to the statement Geimer told Larry King during an interview in 2011, when she blamed the judge and the media for causing "way more damage to [her] and her family than Roman Polanski has ever done."
For the book's cover, Geimer chose to use an intimate photo that Polanski took before the photo shoot where he allegedly raped her. Geimer decided to break her silence after 35 years and has received a lot of press since it's release on September 17.
"What's wrong with forgiveness?" Geimer asked a reporter at a book signing. "What am I going to do, just be angry all my life? I'll forgive him for myself."
