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Over thirty years ago, Roman Polanski fled the US after being charged with statutory rape. The victim, a 13-year-old girl, accused the then-44 film director of forced sexual intercourse and sodomy. After getting generous terms of release during the pretrial procedures, he fled to France in 1978 and has never returned. A Los Angeles court convicted Polanski in absentia.

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Bad art is supposed to be harmless, but the 2008 film “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,” about the notorious child-sex case against the fugitive director, has become an absolute menace. For months, lawyers for the filmmaker have been maneuvering to get the Los Angeles courts to dismiss Polanski’s 1978 conviction, based on supposed judicial misconduct uncovered in the documentary. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza ruled that if Polanski, who fled on the eve of his sentencing, in March 1978, wanted to challenge his conviction, he could — by coming back and turning himself in. …

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In some ways, it should hardly surprise anyone that the film industry would try to rehabilitate Polanski. His annual appearances at Cannes always come with the wistful reminder that he cannot travel to the US or practically anywhere else without fear of extradition. These usually neglect to mention Polanski’s conviction, and also the brutal nature of the crime against a girl who could barely be called adolescent.