Goldberg: 'Polanski not guilty of rape-rape'

Whoopi Goldberg has said that Roman Polanski was not guilty of "rape-rape" following his arrest in Switzerland over his conviction for unlawful sex with a minor.

In 1977, Polanski was charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14 and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor.

These charges were dropped as part of a plea bargain that saw the director admit to the lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor, while he later fled the US on the eve of sentencing.

Of Polanski's crime, Goldberg told The View: "I know it wasn't rape-rape. It was something else but I don't believe it was rape-rape.

"He went to jail and when they let him out he was like, 'You know what, this guy's going to give me a hundred years in jail. I'm not staying'. So that's why he left."

She added: "We're a different kind of society, we see things differently. Would I want my 14-year-old having sex with somebody? Not necessarily, no."

Last year, Polanski's victim Samantha Geimer said: "I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society.

"I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no-one has ever come out ever - besides me - and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory [but] I can live with it."