French actress accuses Roman Polanski of raping her as a teenager

A French actress has claimed she was raped by the filmmaker Roman Polanski when she was a teenager, according to reports.

Valentine Monnier, 62, said the Oscar-winning director raped her at a ski chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, when she was 18, according to the French daily newspaper Le Parisien.

The actress, who has waived her right to anonymity, claimed the attack took place in 1975.

“I had no link with him, neither personal nor professional, and I hardly knew him,” Ms Monnier told Le Parisien.

She said the alleged attack was “extremely violent”, adding: “He hit me, beat me until I surrendered, and then raped me and put me through all kinds of vicissitudes.”

French-Polish director Polanski “firmly contests” the allegation, according to his lawyer Herve Temime.

The attorney reportedly “deplored” that the claim is being made public shortly before the 86-year-old’s latest film J’accuse is released in France.

Le Parisien quotes Ms Monnier as saying the film triggered her decision to go public.

Polanski has been a fugitive from the US for more than four decades after admitting having sex with a 13-year-old.

The director is said to have mostly lived in France since failing to appear at his sentencing, with his French citizenship protecting him from extradition.