The Oscar-winning film director was arrested on Sunday in Zurich on a 31-year-old warrant issued in the U.S. for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. In an interview last year, the victim made a surprising observation:

We pressed charges, and he pleaded guilty. A plea bargain was agreed to by his lawyer, my lawyer and the district attorney, and it was approved by the judge. But to our amazement, at the last minute the judge went back on his word and refused to honor the deal.

Worried that he was going to have to spend 50 years in prison — rather than just time already served — Mr. Polanski fled the country. He’s never been back, and I haven’t seen him or spoken to him since.

Looking back, there can be no question that he did something awful. It was a terrible thing to do to a young girl. But it was also 25 years ago — 26 years next month. And, honestly, the publicity surrounding it was so traumatic that what he did to me seemed to pale in comparison.

Polanski’s crime was heinous. His victim’s grand jury testimony was not merely of a consensual act made criminal by statutory age limits but multiple instances of forcible rape over her frequent and strenuous objections. For her now to describe the publicity surrounding it as more traumatic than the rape itself says volumes about the potential threat the media’s actions can pose to child victims. She has continually requested that the Los Angeles D.A. drop the charges and complains that “the continued publication of “lurid” details about the incident “causes harm to me, my husband and children”.

The press is hotly debating the punishment Polanski’s crime deserves. The value of the prosecution of Polanski in deterring others from similar acts is significant. Lost, however, is the lesson for law enforcement, the judiciary and the press on their duty to inflict no more harm on a minor victim than has already been inflicted.

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