Strauss-Kahn Faces Allegations of Sexually Assaulting Woman at a Hotel in Washington

By DOREEN CARVAJAL and MAÏA de la BAUME

Published: May 4, 2012

PARIS — French prosecutors are seeking to widen an investigation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, to look into accusations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a hotel in Washington in 2010, the prosecutor’s office in the northern city of Lille said on Friday.

The prosecutor’s office said investigators had formally requested to expand the inquiry, which has already resulted in charges in March against Mr. Strauss-Kahn of “aggravated procurement in an organized gang,” the legal term for pimping, over a prostitution ring centered in Lille.

The latest accusations emerged two days before a hotly contested runoff vote for the French presidency, in which the Socialist candidate is in the lead. The newspaper Libération obtained transcripts of the police interview of a young Belgian woman who said she and another Belgian woman were hired to participate in a sex party in a Washington hotel. The woman accused Mr. Strauss-Kahn — who was once the front-runner to be the Socialist candidate for president — of holding her down and pulling her hair as he assaulted her.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers in Paris immediately issued a statement denouncing the accusations as a “lynching,” citing the timing of the presidential election and the fact that the information was emerging now although investigators had made their request to expand the inquiry on March 28. The lawyers also denied that any violence occurred and said the two women at the party had offered contradictory information.

The accusations date from December 2010 and involve two Belgian escorts who said they were paid 2,500 euros, about $3,200, for a three-day trip to Washington, that included a sex party at the W Hotel with Mr. Strauss-Kahn and three other men from France.

The Libération article cites direct statements from the transcripts accusing Mr. Strauss-Kahn of knowing that the women were paid escorts and also that he forced one into a particular sex act by gripping her hands, pulling her hair and hurting her. “Certainly, I didn’t scream, but I did say clearly several times to stop in a high voice,” she said, according to the article.

Neither of the two women, both in their 20s, filed a complaint, and the Metropolitan Police Department and the F.B.I. said they had no report of such an incident. The second woman reportedly has said that she did not hear the other woman make clear demands to Mr. Strauss-Kahn to stop.

The accusations stem from an investigation of a high-profile prostitution ring labeled the Carlton Affair in the French news media because of sex parties that were held in luxury hotels, including the Hôtel Carlton de Lille. In addition to Mr. Strauss-Kahn, eight other people are under investigation, including a lawyer, a police officer and a hotel manager.

If convicted, Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who is 63, could face a maximum of 20 years in prison and 3 million euros, or nearly $4 million, in fines.

With the request to widen the investigation, the Lille prosecutor has the option of refusing the request or starting a preliminary police investigation.