Roman Polanski escaped a U.S bid to extradite him from Poland on Friday over charges dating back to the 1970s, after a Polish court rejected the bid.
Polanski did not appear in court today to hear the sentencing - "because of emotional reasons" his lawyer Jan Olszewski told the judge.
Prosecutors have 7 days to appeal the decision.
The Oscar-winning director pleaded guilty in 1977 to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles. Polanski had originally been charged with six offenses including rape by use of drugs and sodomy against the then-teenager Samantha Geimer.
Polanski served 42 days in jail as part of his 90-day plea bargain, but, on release before final sentencing, he fled the country for France, believing that the judge hearing his case could overrule the deal and impose a longer prison sentence. He has been a fugitive from U.S. justice ever since, despite multiple attempts to extradite him over the years.
Polanski did not attend the Friday court hearing in the historic city of Krakow with his lawyer. He has been preparing a film he plans to shoot on location there about Alfred Dreyfus, the 19th century Jewish French military officer whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became a political drama until he was eventually exonerated.
Assuming prosecutors do not successfully appeal Friday's ruling, Polanski will be free to stay in Poland and continue with the project.
Polish prosecutors have been cooperating with U.S authorities even though under Polish law the statute of limitation on the charges against Polanski long expired. Earlier, prosecutors said that if the Krakow court ruled the extradition inadmissible, the decision would be final. They had said that in the case the court ruled in favor of the extradition request, Poland's justice minister would have to decide whether to approve it.
Poland's new conservative government, run by the Law and Justice Party, has made it clear that it would extradite Polanski if the court so ruled.
The court adjourned an earlier hearing in April, with the judge saying he needed access to additional documents before ruling on the case. The judge has requested documentation from U.S. authorities, who have called on Polanski to be extradited, and a Swiss court which, in a similar case in 2010, decided there was insufficient evidence to extradite the director.
Polanski had said he would cooperate with the Polish authorities as they deal with the latest extradition request from the U.S. He added: "I trust the Polish judiciary system. I hope everything will be all right."
The court ruling means that Polanski, who was born in France but also holds Polish citizenship, is now safe to stay in Poland. France, where the director lives, has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but does not extradite its own citizens. The Swiss ruling means Polanski is also save to life and travel there as well.
The Oscar-winning director served more than a month in jail as part of a plea bargain when the case was first brought against him. He fled the U.S. because of fears the judge would overrule the deal and put him behind bars for years.
The 82-year-old, known for such films as "Chinatown" and "The Pianist," late last year lost his latest bid to have a California court dismiss the case.
SEE ALSO: Polanski's lawyers seek sex crime dismissal
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