Whether his victim thinks the whole thing ought to be forgotten is not her call; she is no longer the focus of his problem; his fleeing the country before sentencing is the matter at hand.

Too, she was the victim of the male fantasy (of some men) of making a woman of a child, and a child she was. It is called statutory rape because she hasn't the legal nor the emotional ability to consent to intercourse. In essence her mother failed to protect her, if not outright pimping her to Polanski.

No heroes in this scenario.