What part of "he pled guilty" is a mystery?

I hadn't planned to say anything at all about the Polanski mess.  Kate Harding did such a great job at Salon that I figured it was pointless.

But there is some true stupidity floating around out there in the blogosphere, and it annoys the crap out of me.

Quick summary, Roman Polanski raped a child. It wasn't "sex with a minor;" it wasn't even remotely consensual, it was a brutal, unabashed rape. He drugged her, he ignored her protests, and then he engaged in multiple sex acts, including both vaginal and anal intercourse.  Sodomy.  He was 44; the victim was 13.  And then he admitted it all.  His attorneys managed to work out a plea bargain, and he pled guilty to the one remaining charge to avoid a trial (had there been a trial, he'd have been wearing prison orange long ago).  Then, while awaiting sentencing, he skipped the country.  He didn't run to avoid a trial; he ran to avoid jail. 

I don't care how long it's been since the crime occurred, or how much the poor man has suffered being forced to live in hellholes like Paris, France, subsisting on meals from 4-star restaurants, I want the state of California to drag his sorry ass back to L.A., hand him an orange jumpsuit, and let him rot.  Because the bottom line is Roman Polanski raped a child.