Tristane Banon Files Rape Complaint Against DSK

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Adam Clark Estes 2,164 Views Jul 5, 2011

Lawyers representing French writer Tristane Banon have filed a legal complaint accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her in 2003. Then 23-years-old, Banon had interviewed DSK for a book, and when he invited her for a follow-up interview at a Paris apartment, DSK tried to force himself onto her, Banon says. She's told the The Telegraph as that the incident ended "very, very violently." In a recent interview with L'Express:

I do not speak the sordid details of his fingers in my mouth, his hands in my pants after undoing my jeans and bra, under my black turtleneck ... He stopped the dictaphone, grabbed my hand and arm, I asked him to let me go, and that was the fight part. He pulled me toward him, we came down, and we fought on the ground for several minutes ... When I realized he really wanted to rape me, I started to give him a kick with my boots, I was terrified and I told him: "You're not going to rape me?" And then I managed to free myself, I ran downstairs, I found myself in my car, I called my mother because I could not even drive, I was shaking so much. 

DSK denies the incident ever took place and has said he would file slander charges if she made the accusation. "The scene she describes is imaginary," he said in an authorized biography published this year. "Do you see me throwing a woman on the floor and being violent, as she claims?"

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