Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case

The People of the State of New York v. Strauss-Kahn was a criminal case relating to allegations of sexual assault and attempted rape made by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, against Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Sofitel New York Hotel on 14 May 2011. The charges were dismissed at the request of the prosecution which pointed out serious doubts in Diallo's credibility and inconclusive physical evidence. In a television interview in September, Strauss-Kahn admitted that his liaison with Diallo was a moral fault and described it as "inappropriate" but that it did not involve violence, constraint or aggression. He said that Diallo had lied and that he had no intention of negotiating with her over a civil suit she had filed against him. The suit was later settled for an undisclosed amount, subsequently reported to have been $1.5 million.

On May 19, 2011, Strauss-Kahn was indicted by a grand jury and after posting $1 million bail and pleading not guilty he was placed under house arrest. On 1 July, prosecutors told the judge that they had reassessed the strength of their case in the light of the housekeeper's diminished credibility, and the case against him was near collapse.

On 23 August 2011, the judge formally dismissed all charges following a recommendation for dismissal filed by the District Attorney's office, which asserted that the complainant's untruthfulness made it impossible to credit her.

At the time of the alleged attack, Strauss-Kahn was the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and considered to be a leading candidate for the 2012 French Presidency. Four days after his arrest, he voluntarily resigned his post at the IMF. There was widespread speculation in France after his arrest that he was the victim of a conspiracy.

On 14 May 2011, Strauss-Kahn was arrested and charged with the sexual assault and attempted rape of 32-year-old Nafissatou Diallo, a housekeeper at the Sofitel New York Hotel in the Manhattan borough earlier that day. After calling the hotel and asking them to bring his missing cell phone to the airport, he was met by police and taken from his Paris-bound flight at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport minutes before takeoff and was later charged on several counts of sexual assault plus unlawful imprisonment. Strauss-Kahn was accused of four felony charges—two of criminal sexual acts (forcing the housekeeper to perform oral sex on him), one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse—plus three misdemeanor offences, including unlawful imprisonment.

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