Harvey Weinstein, a titan of the silver screen, the man behind many of the greatest films of the last decade, convincingly stated, “Hollywood has the best moral compass.” Come again, Harvey? Celebrities might protest the Iraq war with their Oscar speeches; they might dedicate time to charitable causes and maybe every single member of the Screen Actors Guild drives a Prius and eats organically grown legumes for lunch, but that definitely does not make Mel Gibson my Mother Theresa. Case and point: Hollywood’s reaction to the arrest of longtime fugitive and film director Roman Polanski.

Mr. Polanski, 44 years old (in 1977), promised Samantha Gailey’s mother that he needed one on one time with Samantha for a fashion shoot for Vogue. It has been alleged that once they were alone, Polanski drugged and sodomized the 13-year-old girl despite her repeatedly saying, “No,” and asking the film director to stop. This story is about as clear cut a definition of rape and lewd and lascivious acts with a minor (child molestation) as one can find. But wait, allow me to check my judgment with a dose of Hollywood’s superior morality. Mr. Weinstein: “We are calling every filmmaker we can to fix this terrible situation.”

One would think that by “terrible situation,” Weinstein would be speaking of the fact that a convicted rapist has been living in France as a wealthy, well-respected and free man. Hollywood reacted swiftly to the arrest of Polanski, who made the mistake of leaving his sanctuary in France (which has refused to extradite him) to receive a lifetime achievement award in neighboring Switzerland. Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, David Lynch and a host of other directors signed a petition demanding their colleague’s release. On The View, Whoopi Goldberg clarified for the uneducated among us that Polanski’s actions were not as bad as “rape-rape.” I suppose that means that as long as one doesn’t rape at knife or gunpoint, it is a lesser crime. Hollywood has rallied for the liberty of one of their own because, of course, the man is a genius. He’s a “cultural treasure.” And hasn’t it been decades since the crime was committed?

Directing great films doesn’t give you some sort of free pass for raping little girls. Nor does fleeing to Europe and avoiding punishment for decades after your conviction. If anything, the United States should have been more zealous in pressuring France to arrest a man who had pled guilty to a crime of such magnitude. But the well connected and wealthy have defended Polanski over time, dismissing his offense as a minor mistake. It is incredibly disturbing that some have called a 44-year-old man’s perverted and premeditated crime against a child a “youthful indiscretion.” Since when is a 44-year-old in his youth? Moreover, it is difficult to argue that Polanski’s crime was truly a moment of weakness.

Since fleeing the country in 1978, Polanski has done everything but repent for his sins. He has sat for numerous interviews in which he has repeatedly insisted that his sex with the young Ms. Gailey was consensual, and that he was in fact the victim of an overzealous justice system looking for press. In fact, Mr. Polanski doesn’t even seem to regret his actions for any reason but the trouble they created for him. “If I had killed somebody,” he said, “it wouldn’t have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But … fucking, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to fuck young girls. Juries want to fuck young girls. Everyone wants to fuck young girls!” A statement like that could only come from a very, very dangerous man.

Polanski has had his share of pain in life. His pregnant mother was killed in Auschwitz. Polanski’s pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by the Manson family in 1969. But a life of hardship is not an excuse for a crime that causes similarly irreparable suffering in others. Polanski has not paid his debt to society, and the Los Angeles District Attorney should be commended for not allowing someone with wealth and power to evade the law. Our justice system is far from perfect, but its aim should be to treat its citizens equally — regardless of race, age, religion or social status.