Strauss-Kahn Faces New Rape Probe in Washington Hotel Allegation

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's legal troubles deepened in May 2012, when a French prosecutor in Lille opened a preliminary investigation into an allegation of rape in a Washington hotel during a sex party in December 2010, when Strauss-Kahn was still head of the International Monetary Fund.

The move followed a request from investigating judges to broaden an existing suspected prostitution probe. The French daily Liberation reported that two Belgian women questioned in the Lille investigation described violent sexual conduct by Strauss-Kahn at Washington's W Hotel — accounts the 63-year-old economist denied, saying whatever happened was consensual. Neither woman had filed a formal complaint, but French procedure permits investigation without one.

Strauss-Kahn was already facing preliminary charges of aggravated pimping in the same Lille probe, built around a suspected prostitution network involving prominent figures and police. He denied the charges, acknowledging "libertine" activity while insisting he had been unaware anyone was being paid.

Meanwhile in the United States, a judge ruled that a civil lawsuit by New York hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo — who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in May 2011 — could proceed despite his claim of diplomatic immunity. Strauss-Kahn had countersued Diallo for $1 million, calling her accusation "malicious and wanton."

A separate complaint by a French writer over a 2003 incident had already been ruled time-barred.

In barely a year, the man once considered France's likely next president had been transformed into the subject of overlapping criminal and civil proceedings across two countries — and France into a place conducting a painful public debate about power, sex, and impunity.

This article summarizes contemporaneous reporting, including ABC News' May 2012 coverage. It reports on investigations and legal proceedings, not findings of guilt.