FRANCE: Anne Mansouret, a former lover of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and the mother of Tristane Banon who has brought attempted rape charges against him in France, says Strauss-Kahn had a brutal and predatory side

Record ID: 560003

  • Title: FRANCE: Anne Mansouret, a former lover of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and the mother of Tristane Banon who has brought attempted rape charges against him in France, says Strauss-Kahn had a brutal and predatory side
  • Date: 26th August 2011
  • Summary: LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE (AUGUST 25, 2011) (REUTERS) VIEW OF LA ROCHELLE TRISTANE BANON'S MOTHER, ANNE MANSOURET, TALKING TO JOURNALISTS LA ROCHELLE SEASIDE ANNE MANSOURET LOOKING AT THE SEA ANNE MANSOURET'S ARMS ANNE MANSOURET POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHER LA ROCHELLE SEA-FRONT (SOUNDBITE) (French) TRISTANE BANON'S MOTHER, ANNE MANSOURET SAYING: "There is a brutal side of his character that does not fit with this man who is is something of a ladies' man, who is charming and attractive to some. Some women don't think he is attractive, some think he is, I must admit that I find him attractive, otherwise I would not have done what I did with him. But it's very bizarre, you get the feeling there was a kind of urge about him, of violence, of him being predatory." BOAT IN LA ROCHELLE HARBOUR MANSOURET'S SUNGLASSES (SOUNDBITE) (French) TRISTANE BANON'S MOTHER, ANNE MANSOURET SAYING: "Tristane has had to go through very hard moments. For example, during the time her lawyer said that she wouldn't testify in the U.S. case. She was harassed in Paris." MANSOURET'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (French) TRISTANE BANON'S MOTHER, ANNE MANSOURET SAYING: "She has an artist's character, so she is very touched by everything, more than normal. She is this kind of person who won't be able to sleep for 48 hours because she just learned that her mother has had sex (with Dominique Strauss-Kahn). She is really very sensitive." MANSOURET (SOUNDBITE) (French) TRISTANE BANON'S MOTHER, ANNE MANSOURET SAYING: "Everyone is looking at her like a strange beast. It's not easy for her and she is very bothered by it. It can make her quite aggressive, because it's not easy to live through all this, there's a quite humiliating side to it, although none of this is her fault." SEASIDE MANSOURET TALKING PHOTOGRAPHER ANNE MANSOURET WALKING
  • Embargoed: 10th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8GP3A14O0X9NTN5VP5AX05EVB
  • Story Text: The mother of the woman who has brought a complaint for attempted rape against Dominique Strauss-Kahn in France said on Thursday (August 25) that Strauss-Kahn was seductive, but had a brutal and predatory side. Anne Mansouret, the mother of Tristane Banon, has had a sexual relationship with Strauss-Kahn herself.
    While free of charges of attempted rape in New York, Strauss-Kahn still faces the complaint by Banon, a writer, who said he tried to rape her during a 2003 interview.
    "There is a brutal side of his character that does not fit with this man who is is something of a ladies' man, who is charming and attractive to some. Some women don't think he is attractive, some think he is, I must admit that I find him attractive, otherwise I would not have done what I did with him. But it's very bizarre, you get the feeling there was a kind of urge about him, of violence, of him being predatory," Mansouret told Reuters TV in La Rochelle.
    New York prosecutors dropped charges against Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday after losing confidence in Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid from Guinea who alleged he emerged naked from the bathroom of his luxury suite on May 14 and forced her to perform oral sex.
    But the Paris prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry into a complaint filed by Banon, who says Strauss-Kahn unhooked her bra and tried to open her jeans as she kicked him in what ended up as fight on the floor.
    Mansouret has said she regrets talking her daughter out of filing a complaint at the time, but was worried it could have damaged her career. Even now it is very humiliating, she said.
    "Everyone is looking at her like a strange beast. It's not easy for her and she is very bothered by it. It can make her quite aggressive, because it's not easy to live through all this, there's a quite humiliating side to it, although none of this is her fault."
    Banon has sought to distance herself from Diallo. They have never met and Banon's lawyer said she would refuse to testify in the case.
    "Tristane has had to go through very hard moments. For example, during the time her lawyer said that she wouldn't testify in the U.S. case. She was harassed in Paris," her mother said.
    French media outlets did not pay much attention to Banon's account when she first spoke of it in 2007 but have returned to the matter, after Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York brought up stories from his past. The accounts characterised him as a womaniser who flirted with female journalists and alleged that he had a controversial affair with a subordinate at the IMF. He was nicknamed "the great seducer."
    During the Banon investigation it emerged that Mansouret had herself had sexual relations with Strauss-Kahn.
    "She has an artist's character, so she is very touched by everything, more than normal. She is this kind of person who won't be able to sleep for 48 hours because she just learned that her mother has had sex (with Dominique Strauss-Kahn)," said her mother. "She is really very sensitive."
    Banon, who was 22 at the time of the alleged attempted rape, was friends with Strauss-Kahn's daughter, Camille, and is a goddaughter of his second wife.
    The incident first surfaced publicly in 2007, when Banon described it in graphic detail on a television talk show. The programme's producers bleeped out Strauss-Kahn's name during the broadcast. During the TV talk show, which was widely circulated online in recent weeks, Banon said Strauss-Kahn insisted on holding her hand during an interview, before making advances that led to her fighting him off as he tried to undo her clothing.
    Under French law, sexual assault charges must be filed within three years but attempted rape charges can be brought up to 10 years after the alleged attack
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