Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, will not face a criminal investigation over the alleged group rape of a Belgian sex worker after French prosecutors dropped their preliminary inquiry.
Strauss-Kahn, once a Socialist French presidential hopeful, remains under formal investigation in France over alleged complicity in a pimping operation as part of an inquiry into a prostitution ring centred on the luxury Carlton hotel in Lille. Police are examining whether sex workers were procured for orgies with Strauss-Kahn and flown across the world to him while he was head of the IMF.
During police interviews for the Carlton case, two Belgian sex workers had described group sex in December 2010 at a Washington hotel with Strauss-Kahn and others, while he was head of the IMF. One detail in their testimony caught the attention of investigators. The witness statements suggested a sex worker had said no to certain sex acts, but that her wrists were held down and the acts went ahead. The sex worker in question, now 26, had said in her witness statement to Belgian police: "I didn't shout, but I clearly said in a raised voice that I didn't want to." Although the woman did not file a legal complaint for rape, French officials opened their own preliminary inquiry to establish whether rape charges could be brought against Strauss-Kahn and other men present.
The French prosecution service said on Tuesday that after a preliminary inquiry, the issue would not be pursued. The sex worker had written to judges saying that she had consented to the sex act and would not file a complaint. Le Monde reported that in her letter, the sex worker had said that if her hands were held down, it was because it was a "sex game" and she had initially "refused" but had then "accepted without force".
The Carlton hotel prostitution inquiry continues and Strauss-Kahn is still being formally investigated over pimping.