IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrested in New York over alleged sex attack on Manhattan hotel maid
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has been charged with the sexual assault of a hotel maid, after he was arrested and removed from a plane on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy airport.
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Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in police custody in New York after being removed from a plane at JFK airport Photo: AFP
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The Sofitel hotel in New York where the alleged incident took place Photo: AFP/GETTY
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Mr Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair, an American-French television journalist Photo: Reuters
By Jon Swaine, New York 9:00AM BST 15 May 2011
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Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, is expected to be brought before a state court judge later today, where he will be formally charged with a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said he "will plead not guilty".
The prominent French Socialist politician, who was expected to challenge Nicolas Sarkozy for the country's presidency next year, allegedly attacked the 32-year-old maid in his room at the Sofitel, near Times Square.
He is said to have emerged naked from his bathroom and forced himself on the woman, who had entered to clean his room at about 1pm on Saturday. He then allegedly "attempted to sexually assault her", Paul Browne, a New York Police Department spokesman, said on Saturday night.
After the alleged incident, the maid left the room and alerted colleagues, who called 911. Mr Strauss-Kahn then departed for JFK airport, leaving his mobile phone in the hotel room.
He was apprehended in the First Class cabin of Air France Flight 23, which was 10 minutes away from taking off for Paris, at about 4.40 on Saturday afternoon. He was escorted off the plane by two plainclothes detectives, who did not need to use handcuffs.
The officers, from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, turned him over to detectives from the New York Police Department's mid-town south precinct, which covers the hotel and the surrounding area of Manhattan.
The case is now said to be being investigated by the department's Special Victims Unit.
An NYPD spokesman said last night: “There is an ongoing investigation into this matter. Evidence is being gathered. No charges have been filed.” The maid was reportedly taken to hospital by ambulance and treated for "minor injuries".
John Sheehan, the director of safety and security at the Sofitel, told The Daily Telegraph: “The safety and security of our team and our clients is our utmost priority. We are working very closely with the NYPD on their investigation.”
Mr Strauss-Kahn, a former economics professor, lawyer and French finance minister, has since 2007 been the managing director of the Washington-based IMF, which loans large sums of money to countries in economic crisis.
He ran for the Socialist party's presidential candidacy in 2006, but was defeated by Segolene Royal, who went on to lose the general election to Mr Sarkozy the following year.
In 2008 Mr Strauss-Kahn, who is married to Anne Sinclair, an American-French television journalist, admitted that he had an affair with a senior IMF official. He said he had made an “error of judgment”.
He was expected to seek his party's nomination for the 2012 presidential election. Last week he complained that Mr Sarkozy had mounted a “smear campaign” against him and his lifestyle.
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