Another woman is filing a complaint of sexual assault against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF chief currently being held in New York on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel maid. French writer Tristane Banon says Strauss-Kahn did the same to her nine years ago, and described Strauss-Kahn as acting like a "rutting chimpanzee," the Guardian reports. Banon, who was in her 20s at the time of the attack, says she was persuaded not to take action by her mother, who was a friend of the Strauss-Kahn family and a Socialist regional counselor.
"We are planning to make a complaint," says her lawyer. "I am working with her." Banon is Strauss-Kahn's second wife's goddaughter. Back in New York, Strauss-Kahn today pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail until his next court hearing, reports the AP. Until his arrest in New York, Strauss-Kahn was regarded by the French Socialist party as their main hope for unseating Nicolas Sarkozy as president. Click for more on the NYC case. (More Tristane Banon stories.)