NY - IMF leader, Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrested for sex assault

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43035172/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

IMF leader arrested after alleged sex attack on NY hotel maid

"The leader of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested on Saturday, minutes before he was to fly to Paris from John F. Kennedy International Airport, The New York Times reported.

Strauss-Kahn, a candidate for president of France, was taken off an Air France flight by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and turned over to Manhattan detectives, a Port Authority spokesman told the Times. He was accused of a sex attack on a maid at a Times Square hotel earlier in the day..."

BREAKING NEWS

Poor woman. She probably almost had a heart attack when he grabbed her. And what businessman would leave his cell phone and other personal belongings behind when he left a hotel for an international flight? I realize that he's confessed to having inappropriate relationships in the past, but you have to wonder how many women have suffered from this type of sick predatory behavior. "Crept up on her...." gives me shivers. This is NOT the first time.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43035172/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

"....Strauss-Kahn, 62, allegedly crept up behind a 32-year-old maid after she entered his room and forced her to perform oral sex on him, sources told the New York Daily News. The New York Post said he was naked and had emerged from the bathroom.

The woman broke free and ran out of the room, WNBC said. Strauss-Kahn quickly headed for the airport, sources told the Daily News. New York police top spokesman Paul Browne said Strauss-Kahn left his cellphone and other personal items in his Sofitel hotel room. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry...."


more at link


How can I delicately ask this? Hmm. The woman was taken to a hospital. Would they be able to get some sort of evidence from her mouth within the first couple of hours? His actions convict him, IMO, but it would be so much easier for the victim if they came away with solid evidence. I wonder if other service people will step forward to report other assaults.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110515...zZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNwb2xpY2VpbWZoZWE-

Police: IMF head picked out of lineup in sex case

"Dominique Strauss-Kahn's reputation with women earned him the nickname "the great seducer," and not even an affair with a subordinate could knock the International Monetary Fund leader off a political path pointed in the direction of the French presidency. All that changed with charges that he sexually assaulted a maid in his hotel room, a case that generated shock and revulsion, especially in his home country.
Police said the maid picked Strauss-Kahn out of a lineup. Unless the charges are quickly dropped, they could destroy his chances in a presidential race that is just starting to heat up...."

more at link


I don't know about everyone else but I'd be very suspicious if the charges were "quickly dropped". If this man did nothing wrong, why did he leave in such a hurry? If he was dealing with a housekeeper/maid who was wrongly accusing him, he would have called LE, IMO. He's a bright man and would know that that was the only course of action.

Well, I guess not quite as bright as some thought.

I presume they should have no problem obtaining DNA evidence if it happened as alleged since she went to the hospital right away.

It sounds like a lost cause for him. Not only is it possible that there is DNA; he fled the scene, leaving behind his cellphone and other personal items. And the poor woman was taken to the hospital, perhaps for injuries.

Just playing devil's advocate for a second....unless the alleged victim was sequestered since the attack, wouldn't she recognize the man from the media coverage?

jjenny--I'm curious. I didn't know that they can get DNA evidence from the mouth after a sexual assault. Truly?

I have no doubt that the man will claim that the contact was consensual. My guess is that it will hinge on whether she was actually directed to clean the room as it was empty. I would think that the $3000/night suites would have extremely tight security and oversight. Who would direct her to do that if he hadn't formally checked out?

Yes of course it is possible. It's been reported that the woman was sent to a hospital for DNA testing. If it were impossible why would they even try?

"Oral samples are obtained by swabbing the mouth twice. Sperm have been recovered from the oral cavity up to six hours after an assault, even if the teeth were brushed or mouthwash was used."
http://www.enotes.com/forensic-science/rape-kit

Well, he's French toast

BetteDavisEyes said:

Well, he's French toast

Click to expand...

But if they let him out on bail, I bet he will be just "French."
By the way there is another woman who claims he attacked her years ago.

"Tristane Banon was in her 20s and writing a book when she approached Strauss-Kahn for an interview in 2002. In a TV programme in 2007, in which Strauss-Kahn's name had been bleeped out, Banon allegedly described him as a "rutting chimpanzee" and described how she was forced to fight him off. "It finished badly … very violently … I kicked him," Banon said. "When we were fighting, I mentioned the word 'rape' to make him afraid, but it didn't have any effect. I managed to get out.""
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/16/dominique-strauss-kahn-tristane-banon

Thank you jjenny. I learned something new. No bail for the guy. Jailed like any other common criminal. As to a rival politician alleging that there have been past "maid" incidents, I'd have to ask why in heck the person didn't report them.

Also, no one seems to know what the man was even doing in NY when he was expected at a meeting in Europe. You have to wonder if a woman spent the night with him at the hotel. I've considered the possibility that he might claim that he was drunk and thought the maid was another woman. But it was the middle of the day and he was preparing for an international flight. And he certainly hightailed it out of there with no problem. Maybe it's all a "little game" for him. The NYPD don't seem to be looking at this as a game at all.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/imf_head...zZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNpbWZjaGllZnRvcmU-

IMF chief to remain jailed in NYC sex-assault case

"....He has almost no incentive to stay in this country and every incentive to leave," Assistant District Attorney John A. McConnell said. "If he went to France, we would have no legal mechanism to guarantee his return to this country...."

and

"....Meanwhile, the lawyer for a 31-year-old French novelist said she was likely to file a criminal complaint accusing Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her nine years ago.

A rival lawmaker also alleged, without offering evidence, that the potential French Socialist presidential candidate had victimized several maids during past stays at the luxury Sofitel hotel near Times Square. McConnell, the prosecutor, said in court Monday that New York authorities are investigating at least one other case of "conduct similar to the conduct alleged" at the Sofitel...."

more at link

Often, it seems, the best friends are the last to know. They only see one side of their friend's personality. A growing number of victims see the uglier side.

In France, would an arrested man be allowed to tell "his side of the story" at this point in an investigation? Would that account be publicized?

There's also an explanation as to why the man was in NY. The story of the previous victim is a sad commentary concerning victims of sexual assault and the pressure to remain silent. Her mother advised her not to report as it would "stain her resumé". Hers???


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110516...5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNpbWZoZWFkc3RyYXU-

IMF head Strauss-Kahn accused of 2002 sex assault

"....Strauss-Kahn's defenders said they suspected he had become a victim of a politically motivated smear campaign. But others were re-examining whether Strauss-Kahn's reputation as a womanizer had an ugly, coercive side.

French viewers were stunned by the images of the handcuffed Strauss-Kahn ducking stone-faced into a police car. In France, public figures are usually shielded from view in such circumstances. A New York City judge said Monday afternoon that Strauss-Kahn must remain jailed at least until his next court hearing for attempted rape and other charges.

In France, fellow Socialists increasingly defended Strauss-Kahn, citing contradictions in the investigation, and pledged to stick to the campaign calendar. The judge's decision to jail Strauss-Kahn "is very, very severe," said Socialist politician Pierre Moscovici. "So far we haven't heard his side of the story. I'm waiting to hear it with a certain disbelief, because I have known him for 30 years, and I've never considered him to be a violent man..."

and

"....The newspaper Le Monde, citing people close to Strauss-Kahn, said he had reserved the $3,000-a-night suite for one night during a quick trip to have lunch with his daughter, who is studying in New York...."

more at link

So several French Socialists want his campaign to go on as if nothing happened? Huh?? I know Europeans look at things a little differently than here but for God's sake, some things are so evidently wrong that attitudes should cross national boundries.
He rents a $3000 nightly suite in order to have a lunch date with his daughter? This is a guy who oversees debt issues with poor countries?
Seems to me that this is one of those guys who is full of himself and keeps pushing his luck because he thinks he's special. I'd bet he was in NYC for a lot more than he said.
This will make a great Law and Order SVU episode down the line..

Snick1946 said:

So several French Socialists want his campaign to go on as if nothing happened? Huh?? I know Europeans look at things a little differently than here but for God's sake, some things are so evidently wrong that attitudes should cross national boundries.

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It would probably be the same thing here. Imagine if a leading candidate for the US presidency (for either party) got arrested for something like this in France. I have no doubt some of his supporters would be crying foul, disparaging the French legal system and downplaying the charges in some way.

A person goes to work, gets violently attacked, reports the attack and then faces the unending hell of public scrutiny (including tawdry jokes) and is ripped up and "probed" by the attacker's "team". Just lovely. And we wonder why victims don't step forward. I'd be willing to bet that the next housekeeper or maid who is attacked by a high profile person won't be so forthcoming.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2011052...jA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNzdHJhdXNzLWthaG4-

Strauss-Kahn will be cleared of sex crimes: lawyer


"....Strauss-Kahn has also hired a powerful team of private investigators to probe his 32-year-old accuser.

Defense lawyers have so far given little indication of their strategy against the maid's claims that a naked Strauss-Kahn chased her through the hotel room where she'd gone to clean, then forced her into oral sex. However, there have been hints that the lawyers will say a consensual sexual encounter took place...."

more at link

Consensual, hmmmm?


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/imf_lead...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2Fwc291cmNlc2RuYQ--

AP sources: DNA matches Strauss-Kahn in sex attack

"New tests have found that the DNA of former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn matches material found on the shirt of a Manhattan hotel maid who says he attacked her, two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press...."

and

"....They said DNA found on the maid's shirt matched to a sample of DNA from Strauss-Kahn, once a French presidential contender.

Staff at the Sofitel Hotel also told authorities that he had made passes at them, including flirting with a clerk and calling another employee to ask her up to his room, according to a third person with direct knowledge of investigators' interviews with staff...."

More at link

More on the dna.

During their investigation, authorities cut out a piece of carpet and swabbed sinks and other surfaces in his hotel room. Investigators told the AP they believed the carpet in the hotel room may contain Strauss-Kahn’s semen, spat out after an episode of forced oral sex by the maid.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...ookers/2011/05/23/AFLFKa9G_story.html?hpid=z1

I saw that. And what woman, either paid to perform oral sex or performing consensually would spit out the semen on the carpet? Not going to happen.

I think the man is toast.

NY Post reports DSK's people are trying to buy her silence:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/maid_offer_ya_can_refuse_joKw8dxbw6AkYOmJsEZiaN

He is reputed to have been yelling 'Do you know who I am?' during the attack.

I think we all know who he is by now. He's sure as hell not going to be president of France..

This makes me sick. A woman has the strength to report an assault and she comes head to head with a monster who literally puts her on trial. Ex-CIA spies?? Good Lord. It looks like it's going to be open season to sexually assault hotel and service staff now. Who wants to walk in this woman's shoes? No one will report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110529...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3N0cmF1c3Mta2Fobg--

Strauss-Kahn assembles crisis team to fight back

"Faced with a legal and media onslaught, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is pulling together a crack team of investigators, former spies and media advisers to fight back against charges he sexually assaulted a hotel chambermaid.

The former IMF chief's advisers will have their work cut out for them, and they may have to use different approaches to handling his legal problems in the United States while trying to bolster his reputation in his native France and beyond. This may be why the range of damage-control specialists being assembled is so diverse. People consulted or hired so far include ex-CIA spies, experienced New York criminal investigators and some of the best-connected public relations specialists in the French-speaking world....

more at link


In reality, I don't think this woman made a "report" as much as she ripped out of a man's grasp and ran to the nearest safe place in total horror.

It appears the woman has ties to criminal elements. She apparently made a phone call to a convict on the day of the alleged rape to discuss how to profit financially of the situation. She apparently lied about a previous rape. In the span of two years a total of $100 grand was deposited into her account (a portion coming from a convicted drug dealer). She was paying phone charges to five companies to the tune of several hundred dollars a month.

After repeatedly lying to investigators, her credibility has been called into question and the case is said to be close to collapsing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/nyregion/strauss-kahn-case-seen-as-in-jeopardy.html?pagewanted=2&hp