Bernard Lemaire, presiding Judge, while reading the 147-page verdict, ruled that Strauss-Kahn’s participation in sex parties that occurred during his tenure at the IMF between 2008 and 2011, was not illegal.
Prior to acquitting Strauss-Kahn, the judge also cleared many of the 13 co-defendants who had stood trial alongside him.
The key charges against Strauss-Kahn included aggravated pimping in relation to the parties, which were organised in Lille, Paris, and Washington while he was IMF managing director.
Central to the legal case was whether Strauss-Kahn organised the parties or knew that prostitutes in attendance were paid to participate.
Lemaire said that the case was not related specifically to sex practices, and underscored his finding that Strauss-Kahn had not paid for prostitutes or organised to have them paid.
He said Strauss-Kahn had only profited as “a man” from the parties, and others had paid them.
He also said that Strauss-Kahn did not specifically benefit from his position as the head of the IMF, and that the use of Strauss-Kahn’s apartment for meetings could not be held as evidence of his culpability.
Strauss-Kahn had earlier defended his participation in the parties, saying they were an important outlet for his high-stress career.
He said they were part of a “libertine” lifestyle, but could not be considered illegal, because he had not known the women in attendance were prostitutes who had been hired to participate.
Group sex and paying for sex are not illegal in France. Knowingly attending or organising gatherings where a third party has paid for sexual services is.
Over the course of the three-week trial in February, observers heard emotional testimonies from women who had worked as prostitutes and described brutal treatment during orgies.
Strauss-Kahn at the time had defended his sexual practice as “rougher than the average man,” and said that if a woman didn’t appreciate that it was “her right.”
The women who had worked at the parties and testified during the trial were absent from the courtroom as the 147-page verdict was read.
Strauss-Kahn was the head of the IMF from 2007 until May 2011, when he resigned over separate allegations that he sexually assaulted a hotel cleaning woman in New York.
Criminal charges in that case were dropped, but he settled a civil case with her. (dpa/NAN)