Roman Polanksi Being Investigated by the LAPD After Allegation He Sexually Assaulted Girl, 10

Roman Polanski is under investigation for new allegations of sexual assault, PEOPLE confirms.

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told PEOPLE they were investigating allegations made against Polanski claiming the director had sexually molested a 10-year-old child in 1975.

While authorities are looking into the allegations, the department cannot prosecute the case as the statute of limitations has expired, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, the evidence could aid in the prosecution of other cases, the LAPD told the paper.

Polanski’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment. The lawyer denied the allegations to TMZ, saying the director’s team had hired a private investigator to look into the allegations.

Marianne Barnard, an artist, claimed the director sexually molested her after a 1975 photo shoot at Will Rogers State Beach in Malibu, California. Polanski allegedly had her pose naked with a fur coat.

Barnard has also begun an online petition to expel Polanski, 84, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“It is a small consequence for him considering his crimes and the great amount of harm he has caused me and his other victims,” Barnard wrote in the petition.

The reason Roman Polanski has told the press that he’s hired a private investigator to harass me and my relatives is to silence other women who have come forward to police but, not publicly. And, to silence his victims who haven’t spoken out yet at all.

— Marianne Barnard (M) (@Marianne_M_B) December 13, 2017

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On Twitter Tuesday night, she said Polanski had hired the private detective to “harass me and my relatives.”

In a second tweet, she wrote, “The reason Roman Polanski has told the press that he’s hired a private investigator to harass me and my relatives is to silence other women who have come forward to police but, not publicly. And, to silence his victims who haven’t spoken out yet at all.”

Polanski is still wanted for fleeing the U.S. in 1978 after he plead guilty to statutory rape after being charged with drugging and assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

The Oscar-winning director spoke out about that rape accusation in a rare interview with The Hollywood Reporter in October.

“As far as what I did: It’s over. I pleaded guilty,” Polanski said. “I went to jail. I came back to the United States to do it, people forget about that, or don’t even know. I then was locked up here after this festival. So in the sum, I did about four or five times than what was promised to me.”