Sex attack: IMF chief denied bail
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrested for allegedly trying to rape a New York hotel house keeper on Saturday, was denied bail by the Manhattan Criminal Court here Monday.
He was taken to Rikers Island for protective custody in a single-person cell, reports said.
The chief of the International Monetary Fund and a prospective Socialist Party presidential candidate in France was arrested on Saturday for allegedly sexually assaulting a maid of a Manhattan hotel in a luxury suite.
He was arrested from a plane bound for Paris moments before it was to take off.
Prosecutors Monday requested the Criminal Court judge, Melissa C. Jackson, to remand him in custody since he could be a flight risk.
They argued that he could have been involved in similar incidents before.
John McConnell, an assistant district attorney, argued that the defendant restrained a hotel employee inside the room and sexually assaulted her and attempted to forcibly rape her.
McConnell argued that when Strauss-Kahn failed to rape her, he forced her to perform oral sex.
The accused’s lawyer said Struass-Kahn was in no hurry to leave New York and he should be given bail.
He was denied bail by the court.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police had taken out Dominique Strauss-Kahn from an Air France plane at the John F. Kennedy airport.
Reports said he allegedly came out naked from the bathroom and tried to force himself on the woman who managed to break free and alert the hotel employees. The victim reportedly suffered some minor injuries.
The New York Police was informed but Strauss-Kahn had by then left for the airport. He was later arrested from the plane’s first class.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn often referred to as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, and member of the Socialist Party of France (PS).
He was selected as the new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 28 Sept 2007 with the backing of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Strauss-Kahn was France’s Minister of Economy and Finance from 1997 to 1999 as part of Lionel Jospin’s “Plural Left” government.
Strauss-Kahn was widely expected to seek the Socialist nomination for President of France in 2012.