He pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor but fled the US the following year and has been on the run from US justice ever since.
But the director of films including Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist fled from US justice on the eve of his sentencing the following year after serving 42 days in prison.
Since the release of the film, however, the US military justice controversially dropped all charges to all marines involved.
THE Justice Department admitted yesterday that it had granted the FBI authority to 'override' international law in order to seize fugitives from US justice living abroad without first obtaining the consent of the country where they were sheltering.
If they don't, they could face US justice.
The arm of US justice, when it gets going, is very long indeed.
Polanski, then 44, fled from US justice to France on the eve of his sentencing the following year after serving 42 days in prison.