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| Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s defense: I only went to 4 sex parties a year | Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s defense: I only went to 4 sex parties a year |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund, took the stand Tuesday in a courthouse in the northern French city of Lille, denying that he committed "aggravated pimping" at a series of sex orgies. | French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund, took the stand Tuesday in a courthouse in the northern French city of Lille, denying that he committed "aggravated pimping" at a series of sex orgies. |
| Prosecutors say he aided and abetted the prostitution of seven women. He said he was not aware of "the prostitutional aspect" of the women present at orgies he had attended and that he assumed they shared his own "libertine" character. | Prosecutors say he aided and abetted the prostitution of seven women. He said he was not aware of "the prostitutional aspect" of the women present at orgies he had attended and that he assumed they shared his own "libertine" character. |
| Besides, Strauss-Kahn insisted, it's not like he was doing this sort of thing all of the time. | Besides, Strauss-Kahn insisted, it's not like he was doing this sort of thing all of the time. |
| "When you read the criminal complaint you get the impression it was this unbridled activity," Strauss-Kahn said in court. "But it was four times a year, not more than that. It wasn’t this out-of-control activity." | "When you read the criminal complaint you get the impression it was this unbridled activity," Strauss-Kahn said in court. "But it was four times a year, not more than that. It wasn’t this out-of-control activity." |
| Strauss-Kahn, once considered a top candidate for the French presidency, fell into trouble in 2011 after he was arrested in New York in a sexual assault case on accusations by a maid at a Manhattan hotel. Those charges were later dropped, but it blew open a lid on the powerful economist's rather sordid private life. | Strauss-Kahn, once considered a top candidate for the French presidency, fell into trouble in 2011 after he was arrested in New York in a sexual assault case on accusations by a maid at a Manhattan hotel. Those charges were later dropped, but it blew open a lid on the powerful economist's rather sordid private life. |
| French investigators eventually charged Strauss-Kahn with aggravated pimping, related to a string of soirees supposedly held between 2009 and 2011 that allegedly involved prostitutes and where Strauss-Kahn himself was the apparent "king of the party," according to the Guardian. The case claims these events were specifically arranged for him, and took place both in Paris and Washington, where Strauss-Kahn lived while heading up the IMF. | French investigators eventually charged Strauss-Kahn with aggravated pimping, related to a string of soirees supposedly held between 2009 and 2011 that allegedly involved prostitutes and where Strauss-Kahn himself was the apparent "king of the party," according to the Guardian. The case claims these events were specifically arranged for him, and took place both in Paris and Washington, where Strauss-Kahn lived while heading up the IMF. |
| "I have nothing against prostitutes, but that's not what I like. I like to party," Strauss-Kahn said in his defense, adding that the "festive" trysts were simply "a pressure valve in my hectic life." | |
| Prostitution is not illegal in France, but activity that facilitates it is. WorldViews explained what aggravated pimping actually is last year: | Prostitution is not illegal in France, but activity that facilitates it is. WorldViews explained what aggravated pimping actually is last year: |
| The original, French name for the formal charge against Strauss-Kahn is "proxénétisme aggravé." That translates most literally as "aggravated procuring," although, in the legal context, the word proxénétisme is implied to be procurement related to sex trafficking. There are two French laws to understand here. The first, article 225-5 of the French penal code, defines proxénétisme as one of three crimes: (1) to aid or assist in the prostitution of others; (2) to procure some financial gain from the prostitution of others, or; (3) to lead or hire someone into prostitution. In other words, it generally describes crimes for abetting an act of prostitution. It is not quite best described, as the word "pimping" might imply, as the direct selling of human beings for sex. The second law is the aggravated charge of proxénétisme, which is what Strauss-Kahn was charged with, defined under article 225-7 of the French penal code. A charge of proxénétisme can be bumped up to aggravated proxénétisme under several conditions: if the people trafficked for sex are minors, for example, if they're members of a vulnerable population such as the mentally disabled or if they were trafficked under the threat of force. | The original, French name for the formal charge against Strauss-Kahn is "proxénétisme aggravé." That translates most literally as "aggravated procuring," although, in the legal context, the word proxénétisme is implied to be procurement related to sex trafficking. There are two French laws to understand here. The first, article 225-5 of the French penal code, defines proxénétisme as one of three crimes: (1) to aid or assist in the prostitution of others; (2) to procure some financial gain from the prostitution of others, or; (3) to lead or hire someone into prostitution. In other words, it generally describes crimes for abetting an act of prostitution. It is not quite best described, as the word "pimping" might imply, as the direct selling of human beings for sex. The second law is the aggravated charge of proxénétisme, which is what Strauss-Kahn was charged with, defined under article 225-7 of the French penal code. A charge of proxénétisme can be bumped up to aggravated proxénétisme under several conditions: if the people trafficked for sex are minors, for example, if they're members of a vulnerable population such as the mentally disabled or if they were trafficked under the threat of force. |
| The original, French name for the formal charge against Strauss-Kahn is "proxénétisme aggravé." That translates most literally as "aggravated procuring," although, in the legal context, the word proxénétisme is implied to be procurement related to sex trafficking. | The original, French name for the formal charge against Strauss-Kahn is "proxénétisme aggravé." That translates most literally as "aggravated procuring," although, in the legal context, the word proxénétisme is implied to be procurement related to sex trafficking. |
| There are two French laws to understand here. The first, article 225-5 of the French penal code, defines proxénétisme as one of three crimes: (1) to aid or assist in the prostitution of others; (2) to procure some financial gain from the prostitution of others, or; (3) to lead or hire someone into prostitution. In other words, it generally describes crimes for abetting an act of prostitution. It is not quite best described, as the word "pimping" might imply, as the direct selling of human beings for sex. | There are two French laws to understand here. The first, article 225-5 of the French penal code, defines proxénétisme as one of three crimes: (1) to aid or assist in the prostitution of others; (2) to procure some financial gain from the prostitution of others, or; (3) to lead or hire someone into prostitution. In other words, it generally describes crimes for abetting an act of prostitution. It is not quite best described, as the word "pimping" might imply, as the direct selling of human beings for sex. |
| The second law is the aggravated charge of proxénétisme, which is what Strauss-Kahn was charged with, defined under article 225-7 of the French penal code. A charge of proxénétisme can be bumped up to aggravated proxénétisme under several conditions: if the people trafficked for sex are minors, for example, if they're members of a vulnerable population such as the mentally disabled or if they were trafficked under the threat of force. | The second law is the aggravated charge of proxénétisme, which is what Strauss-Kahn was charged with, defined under article 225-7 of the French penal code. A charge of proxénétisme can be bumped up to aggravated proxénétisme under several conditions: if the people trafficked for sex are minors, for example, if they're members of a vulnerable population such as the mentally disabled or if they were trafficked under the threat of force. |
| If convicted, Strauss-Kahn could face a 10-year prison sentence. | If convicted, Strauss-Kahn could face a 10-year prison sentence. |
| The trial in Lille involves 13 other defendants connected in some way to the alleged prostitution ring, including a former police commissioner, a lawyer and luxury hotel managers. It reveals a world of high-powered older men potentially exploiting younger, more vulnerable women. | The trial in Lille involves 13 other defendants connected in some way to the alleged prostitution ring, including a former police commissioner, a lawyer and luxury hotel managers. It reveals a world of high-powered older men potentially exploiting younger, more vulnerable women. |
| One prostitute connected to the case, who described scenes from the orgies as "carnage," claimed she came from a background of poverty and abuse. | One prostitute connected to the case, who described scenes from the orgies as "carnage," claimed she came from a background of poverty and abuse. |
| "You have to be damaged, in terms of body and self-esteem, to get to that point of abandoning your body and profiting from it," said the woman, known as Jade, in an interview with French media. "It’s not easy money. It’s quick money but it’s not easy money. The scars, the marks, the cigarette burns, the smells, the comments of clients, all that comes back." | "You have to be damaged, in terms of body and self-esteem, to get to that point of abandoning your body and profiting from it," said the woman, known as Jade, in an interview with French media. "It’s not easy money. It’s quick money but it’s not easy money. The scars, the marks, the cigarette burns, the smells, the comments of clients, all that comes back." |