Whoopi wrong: Assaulting a child IS a ‘rape rape’

As a father of a teenage daughter, this latest Hollywood production offends me greatly. And as an attorney who has prosecuted several child rapists, it causes me to worry for the future of our justice system.

The rape of a child is one of the most despicable crimes in our legal system.

Only rarely does a young victim completely recover from the physical and emotional damage involved.

In this case, the victim appears to have overcome this and now wants mercy for Polanski. While we can respect her desire to move on, a victim’s preference is but one factor in ensuring justice.

The larger question is one of public protection. More so than any other type of criminal, someone who sexually assaults a child is likely to do it again and again.

The California prosecutors seeking to bring Polanski back to face his punishment know this all too well.

Indeed, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that sex offenders are about four times more likely than nonsex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after serving their time in prison.

We may never know whether Polanski continued to sexually assault children after he fled the United States.

But we do know he’ll be unable to hurt another child while imprisoned for his original crime and for the serious offense of fleeing from justice.

Polanski’s Hollywood pals will use their substantial fame and fortunes to bend public opinion in his favor.

No doubt they’ll offer up Polanski’s life of hardship, his achievements in film, and some may even deny that a crime occurred. Don’t think so?

Whoopi Goldberg was quoted as saying the crime was not really a “rape rape,” whatever that means. I remember hearing the same argument from a defense lawyer representing a man who raped his 2-year-old daughter.

The rush of prominent apologists for this sexual predator is, sadly, just the latest episode of misplaced sympathies. All too often, child sex victims are cast aside in favor of a victimizer posing as victim.

One of my most memorable prosecution experiences occurred immediately after the sentencing hearing for a man I had prosecuted for sexually assaulting his granddaughter.

Over the course of an hour, a courtroom full of relatives queued up to testify in favor of leniency for the grandfather.

None of these people — nearly all the adults in the child’s life — spoke in support of the child. She had been shunned for reporting the assault and placing her grandfather in jeopardy.

After the judge properly sent the man to prison, I left court. One of the relatives followed me into the hall and called my name. I turned and braced for some sort of protest for having helped put the man behind bars.

Instead, the woman — one of the relatives who didn’t testify — thanked me “for being the only person in that courtroom willing to speak for that child.”

Prosecutors don’t do the job for the thanks, but we get some simple satisfaction from giving voice to the voiceless.

Unfortunately, in that noble quest, prosecutors and other child advocates just can’t compete with the volume and vigor of celebrities whose every utterance is potentially newsworthy. But we must try.

The lesson from this case is plain to see. We have a moral duty to treat Roman Polanski like any other person who raped a child, was convicted and then ran from the law.

Academy awards may glitter and glow but their luminance ought not distract us from an honor truly worth collecting — protecting the defenseless from those who have shown themselves willing to enact the very essence of evil.

Mark R. Weaver is a Columbus, Ohio, attorney and a part-time assistant prosecutor. He was formerly assistant director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice.