IMF’s Dominique Strauss-Kahn Faces Sexual Harassment Charges

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, has been charged with attempted rape, criminal sexual assault and unlawful imprisonment of a cleaning woman who had entered his suite at the Sofitel Hotel in Midtown Manhattan Saturday afternoon.

Police said a 32-year-old cleaning woman accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in the Sofitel Hotel near Times Square. The alleged victim, a native of Guinea and mother of two, said she entered room 2806, a $3,000-a-night luxury suite, around 12 p.m. on Saturday to clean it, thinking it was empty, according to a law-enforcement official with knowledge of the case.

Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom nude and approached her from behind and touched her breast, then threw her on to the bed, the official said.

The accuser told police she broke free but was then pushed into a rear hallway of the suite near the bathroom. Strauss-Kahn allegedly caught up with her and sexually assaulted her, the official said, before allowing her to leave.

The alleged victim was taken to a hospital where she was treated for trauma, tested for sexual assault and later released, the official said.

The official said detectives have recovered DNA evidence at the scene.

Strauss-Kahn appeared Monday in criminal court in New York where he was expected to plead not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted a chamber maid at a Manhattan hotel.

Strauss-Kahn’s arraignment was delayed after he “willingly consented to a scientific forensic examination tonight,” said his attorney William Taylor, outside of Manhattan Criminal Court Sunday night. Prosecutors requested the exam, Taylor said. The IMF chief agreed to it after police had earlier requested a search warrant to look for scratches and DNA evidence belonging to his accuser.

The arrest threw into question whether Strauss-Kahn will be forced to resign his IMF slot.

Source: The Wall Street Journal