MARCI A. HAMILTON
From Polanski to "Big Love": Hollywood's Twisted View of Child Sex Abuse
FindLaw columnist and Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton argues that Hollywood's elite should be ashamed of its members' sympathy for director Roman Polanski, who fled the country years ago after pleading guilty to statutory rape based on his giving a thirteen-year-old girl quaaludes and alcohol, and then having sex with her. Hamilton parallels the Polanski case with the Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal, and argues that there is other evidence, too, that Hollywood is failing to take statutory rape as seriously as it should, such as the show "Big Love." She also points out that child predators are all too often charming and attractive; that is why they succeed. When power is added into the mix, she argues, children have no chance unless society affirms the seriousness of the crime. Thursday, October 1, 2009

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