Strauss-Kahn not to face sex charge

Paris prosecutors say alleged offence may have been committed in 2003 but it is time-barred under three-year rule

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FORMER International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is not to face charges over an alleged sexual assault on French romantic novelist Tristane Banon because the offence is time-barred.

Prosecutors in Paris said that there was no evidence to proceed with a charge over Ms Banon’s claim that he attempted to rape her but recognised that there was evidence of what “could qualify as sexual aggression”. However, as the alleged offence was committed in 2003 and not revealed until this year it was outside the three-year rule for such offences.

Last month the prosecutors brought the two together in a “confrontation” to get to the bottom of the case. They had already interviewed more than 20 witnesses.

Ms Banon raised her complaint after Strauss-Kahn was accused of attempted rape by a chambermaid in a New York hotel. He was later freed without charge after prosecutors said the maid was not a reliable witness.

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