French Strauss-Kahn sex assault probe dropped

PARIS, (Reuters) – French public prosecutors dropped  an investigation today into a writer’s accusation of  attempted rape against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn  due to lack of evidence.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said evidence existed  suggesting sexual assault but a prosecution on that lesser  charge was not possible under the statute of limitations. The  incident at the centre of the complaint dates back to 2003.
Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist who was once runaway favourite to  become the next French president, quit as head of the  International Monetary Fund in May after police arrested him in  New York on charges of attempting to rape a hotel maid. He  denied the charges, which were later dropped.
In France, he was accused by writer Tristane Banon, a woman  30 years his junior, of attempted rape in a Paris flat where she  went to interview him eight years ago.
While it would have been possible to launch a prosecution on  a count of attempted rape, other sex assault charges fall  outside the judicial time limits.
“What came to light is that, while there is not enough  evidence to pursue on a count of attempted rape, there are  elements that can be qualified as sexual assault,” the  prosecutor’s office said in a statement on the outcome of a  preliminary inquiry by police.
Since the incident dated back to 2003 and Banon had only  filed her complaint in 2011, the matter could not be pursued,  the statement said.