Dominique Strauss-Kahn was in court Monday morning to face charges of attempted rape, sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. The judge denied him bail, which means he will be jailed until at least May 20.
Strauss-Kahn will spend the night at the New York City jail on Rikers Island. Because of his high profile, he will be housed in a protective custody cell while remanded in the West Facility on Rikers Island, and he will be escorted whenever he is moved from his cell, according to officials. He will not have proximity or contact with other inmates.
"This battle has just begun," said Strauss-Kahn's attorney Ben Brafman outside the courthouse.
The top ranking international official is accused of attacking a hotel maid who went in to clean his penthouse suite at a luxury hotel near Times Square on Saturday.
The 32-year-old maid told authorities that when she entered his suite at the Sofitel hotel, she thought it was unoccupied. Instead, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her, New York Police Department spokesman Paul J. Browne said.
The woman told police she fought him off, but then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again and escaped the room.
Sources told ABC News that the victim told two people she met in the hotel halls that she had been assaulted. These witnesses, sources say, confirmed her disheveled appearance and her statements to them.
Strauss-Kahn was gone by the time detectives arrived moments later, but he had left his cellphone.
Law enforcement officials say that at some point after the attack, Strauss-Kahn called to get his phone back, and a hotel security official asked for his location in order to return it. He said he was at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Hotel security officials then gave the information about his location to the police.
Brafman said in court that his client had a several hour luncheon the afternoon the assault allegedly took place, and did not rush from the hotel as authorities have asserted.
Detectives on Monday were reviewing card swipes for Strauss-Kahn's suite and other locations at the Sofitel and video from the lobby as part of their effort to complete a chronology of what took place before and after the alleged attack.
According to investigators, detectives who interviewed the victim found no reason to doubt her story.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
