Test results returned on Monday found that DNA from former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn matched material on the work clothes of a Manhattan hotel maid who says he attacked her, two people familiar with the investigation said.
The two people would not describe the material found on the shirt, but said DNA matched a sample from Strauss-Kahn, who submitted to testing after his arrest more than a week ago. He denies the charges.
The two people said additional testing was being performed on other items. They were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke to the reporter on condition of anonymity.
During their investigation, authorities cut out a piece of carpet and swabbed sinks and other surfaces in his hotel room. Investigators said they believed the carpet in the hotel room may contain Strauss-Kahn's semen, spat out after an episode of forced oral sex by the maid.
The forensic evidence is the first to link Strauss-Kahn to the woman.
Strauss-Kahn's attorney Benjamin Brafman declined to comment on Monday. At a court hearing last week, he told a judge that forensic evidence developed in the investigation "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter" - leading to speculation that Strauss-Kahn's defense would argue that it was consensual.
NYPD spokesman Paul J. Browne and the Manhattan District Attorney's office would not comment.
The one-time French presidential contender has been charged with a criminal sex act, attempted rape and sexual abuse and is free on $1 million bail, under house arrest at a lower Manhattan apartment. He has been accused of attacking the 32-year-old West African immigrant on May 14 in his luxury suite at the Sofitel hotel near Manhattan's Times Square.
His lawyers say he is innocent.
Staff at the Sofitel told authorities that the 62-year-old had made passes at them the day before the alleged attack, including flirting with a clerk and calling another employee to ask her up to his room, according to a third person with direct knowledge of investigators' interviews with staff.
(中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑)
Todd Balazovic is a reporter for the Metro Section of China Daily. Born in Mineapolis Minnesota in the US, he graduated from Central Michigan University and has worked for the China Daily for one year.