Back in 1977, director Roman Polanski was photographing a 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer, at his friend Jack Nicholson’s home. Just days later, she accused Polanski of rape. She claimed Polanski fed her champagne and prescription drugs, then raped her repeatedly. At first, six charges were leveled at Polanski, and after the charges were filed, Polanski made a plea deal with the LA County’s district attorney in 1978. He pled guilty to “unlawful sexual intercourse” with an underage girl, and he was imprisoned for 42 days.

What happened then is rather sketchy, and there have been several different versions. Some versions have Polanski simply not wanting to serve any additional time in any jail, as per his plea deal, which led to his fleeing the United States. Other versions have a corrupt judge and/or district attorney who were trying to renege on the agreed-upon plea deal. It’s very confusing, and I’m honestly not sure what really happened. All I know is that in 1978, Roman Polanski fled the country on his French passport, and he’s never come back to the states once, not even to collect his Best Director Oscar for 2002’s The Pianist. (Sidenote: Jack Nicholson collected Polanski’s Oscar, and hand-delivered it to him in France.)

Since 1978, Polanski has lived in France for the most part, making his films and enjoying his freedom. The French authorities always claimed that they would not enforce an outstanding American extradition order because his crime was not covered by existing treaties between France and America. This weekend, the 76-year-old Polanski set out from his French home to head to Switzerland. He was due to receive a lifetime achievement award from Zurich Film Festival. The Swiss police arrested and detained Polanski as soon as he entered the country, and they have every intention to extradite him to the United States:

Director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to having 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 Saturday.

A U.S. warrant for his arrest was issued when Polanski left the country more than 30 years ago before his sentencing. Polanski, a French citizen, has never returned to the U.S. since then and has sought to have the case against him dismissed.

The Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police, which confirmed Polanski’s arrest on an outstanding American warrant, added that a decision to extradite him to the U.S. is subject to judicial procedure.

“Why now?,” a friend of Polanski told PEOPLE on Sunday. “We don’t understand. Roman has been to Switzerland before so we don’t understand why he’s been arrested this time.”

Earlier this year, a California judge demanded that the director return to the U.S. in order to apply for dismissal – something Polanski has refused to do for fear of being arrested on arrival as a fugitive.

Polanski’s victim, Samantha Geimer, who has said she long ago moved on with her life, told PEOPLE in 1997, “If Polanski comes back – fine. That would at least end it. It will never be over until that happens.”

The Polish born filmmaker – whose films include Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown and 2002’s The Pianist, for which he was named Best Director (Harrison Ford accepted on his behalf) – is married to French actress Emmanuelle Seigner and has two children, Morgane 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 second wife, Sharon Tate, a victim of the 1969 Charles Manson killings.

[From People]

According to the Associated Press (via HuffPo), the Swiss authorities are waiting for the American government to make a formal extradition request. There’s still a lot of paperwork and legal and diplomatic wrangling to be done, but I think there’s a good chance Polanski could be back in America within the next few months. Although, Polanski has very powerful allies in the French government, and they might try to pull some major strings to get Polanski back. The French Minister of Culture, Frederic Mitterrand, is said to be briefing President Nicholas Sarkozy on the issues, so Sarko could step up big time.

People rake Polanski over the coals every few years, and Polanski’s victim, Samantha Geimer, usually gives a quote. The last time I remember her speaking out was after Polanski’s Oscar win, when she said publicly that Polanski’s case should be dismissed and all charges dropped. While I think she was definitely raped, I also think she’s dealt with what happened to her, and she’s looking for some peace. Polanski even paid Geimer an undisclosed settlement when she took her case to civil court. While it’s nice to see the Swiss stand up for justice everywhere, at some point people have got to drop this. I hope Polanski is extradited, brought to America, and the case can be formally resolved in a just way.

Roman Polanski is shown on 6/15/09 in Paris in the header and on 5/25/08 in Cannes below. Credit: PRPhotos