It took a day, but as a result of our insistence, editors at the Los Angeles Times have presented an accurate visual presentation of Roman Polanski in its website promotion of a feature story that recounts the sordid, explicit details of his 13-year-old rape victim's grand jury testimony.
Tabloid Baby was the first to direct readers to the girl's graphic grand jury testimony, on the day Polanski was arrested in Switzerland, 32 years after he fled the United States to escape sentencing. Close to a month later, the LA Times ran the story on its website and as a front page come-on in its Weekend print edition, and featured a photo of a baby-faced Polanski, a dozen years younger than he was when he admittedly anally raped the child. The photo selection and juxtaposition did make it appear as if the age difference between predator and victim was not so great (it was 30 years), and subtly lessen the impact of Polanski's crime. The paper replaced the misleading photo late yesterday, after our staff reached out to the reporter.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
This morning, the website has gone overboard, with several photos of an adult Polanski-- and without the additional photo of the smiling young victim.
The victim's testimony was studied by the State experts at the time and found wanting. They found evidence that the victim was "mature and willing". Superficial analysis by pundits 32 years after the event should be ignored since they do not even have access to all the information some of it confidential the probation officers, prosecutor and psychiatrists whose input was sought did.
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