IMF's Dominique Strauss-Kahn's Sexual Assault

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 19, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

             Arrested for sexual assault May 14 by New York Port Authority police on an Air France flight only minutes before takeoff, former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn fled the Sofitel hotel shortly after an alleged sexual assault on a West African maid.  While his defense attorney Benjamin Brafman denied the allegations before New York Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus, Strauss-Kahn was granted $1 million bail, despite identified as a flight risk by New York prosecutors.  Finding Strauss-Kahn on an Air France flight only minutes before takeoff underscores his extreme flight risk.  “That you will be here where we need you to be,” said Obus, forcing Strauss-Kahn to post a $5 million insurance bond in addition to the $1 million cash bail, worried about the defendant’s flight risk.  New York Police Department aggressively interrogated the victim to confirm the complaint’s authenticity.

            According to NYPD police reports, sometime in the morning of May 14, the Sofitel’s maid entered Strauss-Kahn’s $3,000 suite and was promptly attacked by him as he emerged naked from the shower.  He allegedly restrained her from leaving the room, dragged her into the bedroom and forcibly tried to get the maid to perform oral sex on him.  Strauss-Kahn reportedly held the main hostage before dragging her to the bedroom for a coerced sexual activity.  NYPD detectives found no holes or inconsistencies with the maid’s story, proceeding to find and arrest Strauss-Kahn.  “There was never any doubt,” when the NYPD arrived at Sofitel to interview the maid.  “The whole staff knew,” the 32-year-old West African victim was telling the truth.  Sources at the hotel said the maid was a “hard worker,” attesting to her credibility as a reliable Sofitel hotel employee.

            Deputy New York Police Commissioner Paul Browne confirmed that the alleged victim was aggressively interviewed by NYPD detectives to ascertain the complaint’s authenticity.  “Police often get flak for interviewing rape victims aggressively,” said Browne, trying to get to the truth.  “But they do it for a reason, to make sure the story hangs together, that there are no inconsistencies.”  By a bizarre stroke of luck, Strauss-Kahn called the hotel looking for his missing cell phone.  NYPD detectives told Strauss-Kahn that they’d get him the phone if he disclosed the location.  When he told NYPD he as at JFK Airport, NYPD police descended quickly on the airport preventing the flight to taking off.  NYPD officers escorted Strauss-Kahn off the Air France flight and promptly arrested him.  It’s difficult for Strauss-Kahn to deny the allegations when he rapidly fled the crime scene.

             At Kahn’s May 16 arraignment, they denied the rape allegations calling them “consensual” sex.  It defies credulity how the Sofitel’s 32-year-old West African Muslim married maid engaged 62-year-old White banker in consensual sex.  Expected to run on the Socialist ticket for the French presidency in 2012, Strauss-Kahn destroyed his political career for the foreseeable future.  Strauss-Kahn believes that his political enemies set him up with the false allegations to destroy his political career.  Believing he’s involved in a scandal, Strauss-Kahn told a French newspaper that he believed his he was set up by his enemies.  Weighing the evidence, a New York grand jury busily evaluating the evidence.  “A woman raped in a care parked and who’s been promised $500 thousand to a million euros to invest such as story,” said Deputy NYPD Police Commissioner Browne.   

            With the IMF vying for special drawing rights for a U.N.-backed reserve currency, Strauss-Kahn showed how seriously the world should take the IMF.  Resigning his post, Strauss-Kahn didn’t admit guilt, only that the current distractions prevent him from carrying out his duties.  French Finance Minister 55-year-old Christine Lagrade is expected to be named as Strauss-Kahn’s replacement.  “I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me,” wrote Strauss-Kahn in his IMF resignation letter.  “I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence.”  Strauss-Kahn has a lot of explaining to do about his supposedly “consensual” relationship with a 32-year-old West African maid.  Explaining why he fled to a JFK Air France flight within hours of the alleged rape incident would be a good start.

            Strauss-Kahn’s attorney Benjamin Brafman made a big mistake admitting that his client had consensual sex with Sofitel’s 32-year-old West African Muslim maid.  While forced to resign from the IMF, Strauss-Kahn, hasn’t protested too loudly what he calls outrageous lies.  NYPD detectives put the victim through a pressured interview to ascertain the accuracy of her story.  A New York grand jury found enough credible evidence to charge Strauss-Khan with sexual assault and false imprisonment.  While he repudiates the charges, his attorney has admitted his client had a “consensual” sexual experience, something preposterous, considering the two didn’t know each other.  If there’s any DNA evidence, it’s going to be difficult arguing it was a consensual relationship.  Letting Strauss-Kahn out on bail, with or without electronic monitoring, invites him to flee.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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