If you're a reader interested in factual disclosure and justice being realized in child sex abuse cases, you undoubtedly know something about Roman Polanski.
To many people, Polanski is simply known as an acknowledged master in the craft of movie directing. He is linked with many acclaimed films and still remains active in his industry at the age of 84.
Many news followers closely connect Polanski to something entirely different, though, namely this: sexual assaults he allegedly committed against multiple young girls in past decades.
In fact, there are more than mere allegations to spur concern. Polanski actually pleaded guilty in one instance to unlawful intercourse with a minor back in 1978.
And then he fled abroad before facing final criminal sentencing. He has since then been a fugitive outside the United States, avoiding authorities' ongoing efforts to extradite and punish him for that crime.
The director's name once again splashed across media headlines recently. It did so in the wake of an announcement from Los Angeles prosecutors that they would not prosecute him for yet another claim filed by a woman who says that Polanski molested her back in 1975 when she was a minor.
Notably, the decision not to proceed had nothing to do with proofs in the matter. Rather, it owed solely to California's statute of limitations serving as a time bar in such cases. State authorities cannot lawfully proceed against alleged offenders except in matters that occurred after 1992.
For obvious reasons relating to justice, closure for victims and criminal accountability, California's law is soundly derided by legions of critics.
And it is spotlighted in every case like Polanski's, where nothing more than an arbitrarily drawn date can determine a criminal outcome, regardless of its material facts.