Director given probation

A movie director charged with groping two women in a bar in Norwalk, Conn., has been granted probation on criminal charges.

Vadim Perelman, 43, of Venice, Calif., was placed on accelerated rehabilitation -- a form of probation -- during an appearance in a Norwalk court this week. Perelman, who directed the 2003 film “House of Sand and Fog,” will have the charges dropped and his record cleansed if he stays out of trouble for two years.

Perelman’s upcoming film, “In Bloom,” stars Uma Thurman and was shot partly in Norwalk. He was arrested on July 22, shortly after he left a bar where two women said he touched them inappropriately.