Ex-curator says Getty abandoned her

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LOS ANGELES, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A former antiquities curator currently on trial in Italy accuses the Getty Museum in Los Angeles of leaving her to pay the price for its acquisition policy.

Marion True is charged in Italy with trafficking in looted antiquities and faces similar charges in Greece. The Los Angeles Times reports that it obtained a copy of a letter she recently wrote the trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

She said prosecutors have described the situation as if "I was in charge of the Getty, made the decisions, wrote the checks and swanned around Europe looking for archeological sites to plunder." But she said all her actions had to be approved by superiors at the Getty.

"No Getty colleague, supervisor, officer or legal representative has stepped forward to challenge publicly this distorted scenario," True wrote.

The Getty has agreed to return some objects to Italy and Greece. By doing that without publicly defending her, officials have acted as if they believe she is guilty, True said.

The Getty is paying for True's legal defense.