IMF Chief Denied Bail

By Phillip Bunnell

International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been ordered to be held without bail amid sexual assault allegations.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, is accused of accosting a Manhattan hotel maid, preventing her from leaving his room and forcing her to perform oral sex. The Frech IMF leader was arrested on Saturday after being taken off an Air France plane at JFK Airport. He spent Saturday night in a special holding cell in East Harlem.

Today in court, the prosecution advised judge Melissa C. Jackson that Strauss-Kahn was a flight risk and said that an assault may have previously occurred. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers contest the claim saying that Strauss-Kahn had already arranged travel plans.

However, Judge Jackson disagreed, saying the fact that Strauss-Kahn was at the airport about to board a flight back to France “raises some concern.”

Strauss-Kahn faces charges of attempted rape, sexual abuse, and criminal sex acts, among various other counts of sexual assault. If convicted, he could serve up to 25 years in prison.

Strauss-Kahn has submitted to a forensic medical exam that will look for signs of a struggle and for traces of the woman’s DNA.