IMF Head Accused of Sexual Assault in NYC, Owns Dumbarton Street House

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, no longer the active managing director of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, is sitting in New York City’s Riker’s Island prison, denied bail after being arraigned for the attempted rape and other alleged sexual offenses of a 32-year-old maid on May 15 at a midtown Manhattan hotel near Times Square. Few Americans knew who Strauss-Kahn is, and fewer Georgetowners knew that he and his wife Anne Sinclair live nearby on Dumbarton Street across from the First Baptist Church near Rock Creek Park. Busy with international work, they have been in D.C. for only three-and-a-half years. A profile of Strauss-Kahn in the latest Washingtonian Magazine reveals how he and his wife rarely interact with social Washington and would be quite anonymous dining at Cafe Milano.

The break in the leadership of the IMF, a key player in worldwide financial bailouts, causes uncertainty in the global economy. Strauss-Kahn was also seen as a leading contender to become the next president of France, although he was already known for his womanizing as “le grand seducteur”—the great seducer. Observers in France view the arrest as a “thunderbolt” and “political earthquake.” Accused of a lavish lifestyle by his political opponents, Strauss-Kahn will remain in custody at least until a May 20 hearing and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of attempted rape, criminal sexual act and unlawful imprisonment.