Case against Strauss-Kahn ends with NY settlement

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the New York hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault have reached an out-of-court settlement, a judge announced Monday, saying terms of the deal were confidential.

An 18-month legal saga pitting former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn against hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo is drawing to a close after a judge announced on Monday that a settlement had been reached in a civil case that Diallo brought against Strauss-Kahn for sexual assault.

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers acknowledged last month that there had been settlement talks after reports of an agreement surfaced in US media. However, the lawyers rejected French newspaper claims that Strauss-Kahn would pay Diallo $6 million to drop the charges against him.

Strauss-Kahn was not required by the judge to appear personally in New York. His accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, was present, as the judge had ordered.

Strauss-Kahn, 63, has faced a litany of sex-related criminal accusations in the US and back in France since the affair involving Diallo first exploded in May 2011 but has yet to stand trial for any of the allegations.

Last year Diallo, 33, told police that Strauss-Kahn forced her to perform oral sex and attempted to rape her when she entered to clean his suite in the luxury Sofitel hotel.

But the criminal case against Strauss-Kahn was dropped by New York prosecutors six weeks later because they claimed Diallo had repeatedly lied to them and they predicted her testimony would not hold up in front of a jury. Diallo then filed a civil case against the once influential Frenchman.

Strauss-Kahn faced additional sexual assault accusations upon his return to France, but one case was dropped because the statute of limitations had expired while a witness in a second case retracted her testimony.

Judges in an alleged pimping ring investigation that remains open have said they would rule on whether to drop inquiries into Strauss-Kahn’s involvement in the affair on December 19. The former IMF chief admits he participated in “libertine” parties paid for by French businessmen, but claims he was unaware anyone was being paid to have sex.

Strauss-Kahn was once considered a presidential frontrunner on the Socialist Party ticket, but has been ostracised by France’s political class in the wake of his legal battles. He has also separated from his famous television journalist and heiress wife Anne Sinclair.

Source: France24 (11/12/2012): http://www.france24.com/en/20121210-strauss-kahn-court-settlement-new-york-sex-assault-rape-charges-diallo