Reax as ex-IMF chief acquitted in pimping trial

(12 Jun 2015) Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was cleared of pimping charges on Friday in France, putting an end to four years of legal drama that began with a sexual assault charge in a New York hotel room. The trial hinged on sex parties that took place in the midst of the global financial crisis - events Strauss-Kahn described as much-needed "recreational sessions" at a time of intense pressure to steer the world through economic peril. He said he did not know the women who took part were prostitutes. In often sordid testimony, the women involved in the sex parties described sometimes-brutal nights that, they said, were not fun for them at all. The panel of judges ruled that Strauss-Kahn, a one-time French presidential hopeful whose political career was tarnished by the allegations, was not involved in hiring the women or paying them. Prostitution is currently legal in France, but prostitutes are often arrested and charged for soliciting in public. Brothels, pimping and the sale of sex by minors is illegal. The verdict was the last step in four years of legal drama for Strauss-Kahn that began when a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault in 2011, killing his ambitions to be French president. That case was later settled out of court. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...