The pimping case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is slowly falling apart
And it appears he could get off without a serious punishment.
On Monday, four of the women present at these parties dropped their damages claims, lawyers for the women told Reuters. Now the French prosecutor has called for Strauss-Kahn's acquittal because there was not enough evidence to prove him guilty.
It all boils down to whether or not the former French finance minister knew that the women present at the "parties" were prostitutes. If Strauss-Kahn, who has previously acknowledged being present at sex parties, can argue successfully that he didn't know, then he might get off.
That's starting to look more likely.
Participating in these parties isn't illegal in France, nor is having rough sex. But organizing the gatherings, whether or not for financial profit, is. And Strauss-Kahn knows it.
"I'm beginning to have enough of all this," The Independent quoted him as saying. "You would think that I was on trial for deviant sexual practices. But there is no longer any such law [in France]."
He also has his own thoughts on what's been most damaging to the plaintiffs: "These girls, what most destroyed them, was not what happened but the press circus over the last three years," he told The Independent.
The 13 other defendants currently on trial are still likely to be convicted - only Strauss-Kahn might get off the hook. If not, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a $1.7 million fine, Reuters reported.
But we won't know for certain for a while. The trial ends on Friday and then the judges will likely take a few weeks to make their final decision.
This is not the first time Strauss-Kahn has found himself at the center of a sex scandal. In 2011, sexual assault charges were dropped after a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault. They settled out of court.