Oscar-Winning Director Roman Polanski Arrested

Director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in California, has been arrested in Switzerland.

In a statement, the Zurich Film Festival, where Polanski, 76, was due to receive a lifetime achievement award, said the Oscar-winning director was held on his arrival in Switzerland.



A U.S. warrant for his arrest was issued when Polanski left the country more than 30 years ago.

The Polish born director – whose films include Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and 2002's The Pianist, for which he was named Best Director – is married to French actress Emmanuelle Seigner and has two sons, Morgan and Elvis.

In 2005, he won a libel suit against Vanity Fair magazine over an article that accused him of propositioning a woman while on the way to the funeral of his murdered wife, Sharon Tate, a victim of the 1969 Charles Manson killings.