Former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn acquitted in pimping trial

LILLE, France (AP) — Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been cleared of pimping charges in a French trial that hinged on sex parties that took place in the midst of the global financial crisis.

Friday’s verdict closes four years of legal drama. Ten others were acquitted as well.

Strauss-Kahn had told the court the parties were much-needed “recreational sessions” and he did not know the women who took part were prostitutes. In often sordid testimony, the women described sometimes brutal get-togethers that, they said, were not fun for them at all.

Allegations against Strauss-Kahn started when a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault in 2011. That case was settled out of court.