Roman Polanski: Director says he felt 'more persecuted' for arrest in 2009 than in 1977 Roman Polanski compared the reaction to his 2009 arrest to the aftermath of his wife Sharon Tate's murder in which he was wrongly implicated Said he fled California because he 'could not go through' the court process Convicted for unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer, 13, in 1977 By David Gardner In Los Angeles Roman Polanski has said that he felt "more persecuted" after his arrest in 2009 on a historic child sex charge than in 1977 when he was charged. The film director served 42 days in jail in 1977 as part of a 90-day plea bargain after his conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's Hollywood mansion. Polanski fled America in 1978, fearing he might actually be jailed for up to 50 years. In 2009 he was held in Switzerland but the authorities decided against extraditing him to the US. Roman Polanski said he felt 'more persecuted' after his arrest in 2009 on a historic child sex charge than in 1977. He is pictured with his wife Emmanuelle Seigner at the premiere of the film 'Blue Jasmine' this month Now he has told Vanity Fair magazine the hatred he faced in 2009 was "much more like" the anger he faced after the murder of his wife Sharon Tate and her friends in 1969. There were misleading rumours he was involved in their deaths - which were carried out by Charles Manson's gang. The Oscar winning 'Rosemary's Baby' director said: "I didn't have that at all then. This was much more like the assassination of Sharon and what happened afterwards. He said about his decision to flee California to live in exile in France: "It was such a shock to learn that it's not finished, after they let you out of prison. Free! With your bundle under your arm, with the lawyer waiting for you outside, standing there, in your mind it's all over, it's finished. And then the judge changed his mind. And I have to go back to prison, and nobody knows how long. I just could not go through that. Polanski was arrested in 2009 en route to the Zurich Film Festival, and spent two months in a Swiss jail. He was then placed under house arrest at his chalet in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Gstaad. Samantha Geimer, now 50, has published a book called 'The Girl: A Life In The Shadow of Roman Polanski' In July 2010 Swiss authorities decided they would not extradite the director to the US. The veteran director responded to reports that he was living as a fugitive in Europe, answering: "I was moving freely for 32 years" between homes and projects in Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Tunisia. Although Polanski's victim, Samantha Giemer, now 50, was outspoken in claiming "enough is enough" in 2009. This week, Geimer published a book telling her side, called "The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski." Despite having left Hollywood four decades ago, the director still has his supporters, such as actor Jack Nicholson, who told Vanity Fair: "I knew this man was not going to say, "Oh, God, this has ruined me. I can't work. That is not in his vocabulary. He's not going to give in. It doesn't mean he's not aware of the loss. But Roman has never been one to let anything limit what he does. He is a genius.