Ex-IMF chief denies sex assault charges

New York (CNN) -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, pleaded not guilty Monday to seven charges involving a May 14 incident in which a housekeeping employee at New York's Sofitel hotel accused him of sexual assault.

Strauss-Kahn, who was considered a front-runner in France's next presidential race before his arrest, faces charges including criminal sexual acts and sexual abuse.

His attorney, Ben Brafman, declined to comment on details of the case in a brief statement to reporters outside the courtroom following the plea.

"We intend to defend this case and defend it vigorously, but we are going to do so in the courtroom," Brafman said, renewing earlier statements that evidence in the case will reveal his client is innocent.

According to New York police, the alleged attack happened soon after the housekeeper entered Strauss-Kahn's suite to clean it.

Strauss-Kahn allegedly emerged naked from a room, ran down a hallway, shut a door to prevent the woman from leaving and attacked her, according to police and prosecutors.

According to court documents and prosecutors, Strauss-Kahn grabbed the woman's chest, tried to take off her pantyhose and forcibly grabbed her between her legs.

The criminal complaint against Strauss-Kahn alleges that he forced the woman to engage "in oral sexual conduct and anal sexual conduct" and tried to force her to engage in sexual intercourse.

The next court date for Strauss-Kahn is July 18, according to Erin Duggan of the district attorney's office. No date for a trial has been set, Duggan said.

The alleged victim, who has not returned to work, intends to testify against Strauss-Kahn, said her attorney, Ken Thompson.

"She is going to come into this courthouse, get on that witness stand and tell the world what Dominique Strauss did to her," Thompson said.

He declined to discuss specifics of any possible settlement negotiations with Strauss-Kahn, saying his focus is preserving the good name of his client.

She was described by a former attorney as a 32-year-old single mother living in the New York borough of the Bronx who moved to the United States from the West African country of Guinea.

At the hearing, defense lawyers formally requested that Manhattan prosecutors provide discovery materials -- copies of scientific reports as well as police reports and formal statements made by the hotel employee.

Prosecutors have not yet turned over the information to defense attorneys, Duggan said.

The defense has said that some of that information has already been leaked to the media.

"Our client's right to a fair trial is being compromised by the public disclosure of prejudicial material even before these materials have been disclosed to counsel," Strauss-Kahn's attorneys wrote prior to the hearing in a letter to the judge presiding over the case.

They said if they chose to, they could "release substantial information that in our view would seriously undermine the quality of this prosecution and also gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant in this case."

In response, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon wrote in a letter that the request for the materials would be addressed if the request was made in writing.

Illuzzi-Orbon told the defense she agreed with the need to safeguard information from leaks, but was "troubled that you chose to inject into the public record your claim that you possess information that might negatively impact the case and 'gravely' undermine the credibility of the victim."

If the defense does possess such information, it should be forwarded to prosecutors, she said.

Strauss-Kahn was released from jail on bond, but is under house arrest in a luxury townhouse in New York's Tribeca neighborhood, according to a source with knowledge of his whereabouts.

He is under court-ordered watch as part of the terms of his $6 million bail agreement, and must pay for 24-hour armed guards posted at the door, as well as electronic surveillance.

CNN's Adam Reiss, Ross Levitt and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

CNN

Ex-IMF chief released from Rikers Island jail

New York (CNN) -- The International Monetary Fund announced its search for a new managing director as its former chief, Dominique-Strauss-Kahn, is confined to a Lower Manhattan apartment following his release on bail from a Rikers Island jail.

A private security guard will monitor Strauss-Kahn around the clock, a source with knowledge of the bail agreement said.

Strauss-Kahn, who is accused of trying to rape a maid last week in hissuite of rooms at the Sofitel hotel in New York, will pay the cost of the security guard at the apartment in the city's financial district, the source told CNN.

A real estate website states two-bedroom apartments with 9-foot ceilings in the landmark, 23-floor, turn-of-the-century building with a doorman start at $4,250 per month. The rental application asks, "Do you or do any of your occupants have charges pending against you or against them for any criminal offense(s)?"

Strauss-Kahn does. He faces two counts of criminal sexual act; two counts of sexual abuse; and one count each of attempt to commit rape, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.

In the charge of criminal sexual act in the first degree, Strauss-Kahn is accused of having "engaged in oral sexual conduct with an individual ... by forcible compulsion," an indictment states.

Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus ordered the release of the 62-year-old economist on Friday over the objection of the prosecution, which said he is a flight risk.

While Strauss-Kahn is in his apartment, where he is to stay with his wife, Anne Sinclair, he will not be able to leave except for medical reasons, Obus said. Once he is in a longer-term location, the former banker must give six hours' notice before leaving.

Defense lawyer William Taylor alluded to Strauss-Kahn's reported failure to win approval to stay at another apartment in pleading Friday with members of the news media to grant his client privacy.

"The reason that he had to move is because members of the press attempted to invade his private residence and interfere with his family's privacy," Taylor said.

The conditions of Strauss-Kahn's release included $1 million cash bail and $5 million bond. A document signed by bondsman Ira Judelson shows that the bond was secured by money from Sinclair.

Judelson would not divulge what Sinclair put up as collateral.

"I feel very comfortable with the bail package (and) the family is," Judelson told reporters. "I worked with them all last night on putting this together. They're good people."

On Friday, more details emerged about the alleged attack May 14 in Suite 2806 of the Sofitel hotel. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the case said a room service attendant entered the suite a short time before the 32-year-old Guinean maid arrived.

The room service attendant didn't think anyone was in the suite of rooms and used a pass key to let himself in to retrieve some room-service items, the source said. He told police he left the door ajar while inside, according to the source.

When the maid showed up at the door about noon, the room-service attendant told her to enter, then departed, the source said.

Once inside, the maid parked her cleaning cart in the doorway, as dictated by hotel policy. A short time later, Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from a room and attacked her, the victim has alleged.

Prosecutors allege that Strauss-Kahn chased her through his suite, sexually assaulted her and tried to rape her.

A criminal complaint states Strauss-Kahn shut the door at one point during the alleged attack. The law enforcement source said the maid escaped about 1:30 p.m.

About an hour before his 4:40 p.m. flight was to take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport for Paris, Strauss-Kahn called the hotel to say he had left his cell phone. He asked security to look for it in his room and to have it delivered to the airport, the source said.

By then, police had been called to the hotel. Though hotel staff never found the phone, they followed police orders, telling Strauss-Kahn they had found it and would deliver it to him, the source said. Port Authority police took over from there, walking a compliant Strauss-Kahn from his first-class seat to a squad car at the airport, the source said.

At the time, Strauss-Kahn was in the fourth year of a five-year term with the global financial institution and was paid $441,980 in 2010, according to the most recent annual report. He also got $79,000 and first-class travel for him and his family while he was on company business.

On Friday, the IMF said that Strauss-Kahn will receive a $250,000 separation payment and a "modest annual pension" thereafter.

We don't disclose pension payments," said IMF spokesman William Murray. "But it is well below the separation payment figure."

The dean of the IMF Executive Board, Shakour Shaalan, announced Friday that the institution adopted a procedure to select its next managing director.

In a statement, Shaalan said the board will meet with final candidates in Washington "with the objective of completing the selection process by June 30, 2011."

Strauss-Kahn proclaimed innocence in a resignation letter to the IMF Executive Board late Wednesday.

"To all, I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me," he said.

His next court appearance is set for June 6.

The judge granted the bail Thursday on condition that, in addition to posting $1 million in cash and a $5 million bond, Strauss-Kahn surrender his travel documents and submit to home detention.

A criminal court judge denied him bail Monday, saying the fact that he was taken into custody aboard an Air France jet made him a flight risk.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyer argued Thursday that his client had bought the ticket on May 11, and that he was not fleeing anything.

The maid testified before a grand jury Wednesday, according to her attorney.

Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman has disputed her allegations, saying "forensic evidence, we believe, will not be consistent with a forcible account, and we believe there is a very, very defensible case."

CNN's Susan Candiotti, Adam Reiss and Ross Levitt contributed to this report.

CNN

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