DNA sample from former IMF chief matches undisclosed material on shirt of New York hotel maid, according to reports

DNA taken from Dominique Strauss-Kahn matches material on the uniform of a hotel maid who says he sexually assaulted her, according to reports from Associated Press and elsewhere.

AP said the two sources would not describe the material found on the shirt but said DNA matched a sample from the former head of the International Monetary Fund, who submitted to testing after his arrest more than a week ago. He denies the maid's allegations.

Testing was being performed on other items, said the two people, who were not authorised to speak publicly about the matter and spoke to AP on Monday on condition of anonymity.

During their investigation, authorities cut out a piece of carpet and swabbed sinks and other surfaces in Strauss-Kahn's hotel room.

The alleged scientific evidence is the first to link him to the woman – but it would be consistent with the defence of consensual sex.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment. At a court hearing last week, he told a judge that scientific evidence from the investigation "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter" – leading to speculation that the defence would argue that it was consensual.

A New York police spokesman, Paul Browne, and the Manhattan district attorney's office wouldn't comment.

Strauss-Kahn has been charged with a criminal sex act, attempted rape and sexual abuse, and was bailed for $1m (£620,000). He is under house arrest at a lower Manhattan apartment. He has been accused of attacking the 32-year-old woman on 14 May 14 in his luxury suite at the Sofitel hotel near Manhattan's Times Square. His lawyers say he's innocent.

On Monday, lawyers for Strauss-Kahn continued to search for new housing for their client as he awaits trial. His bail agreement hit a snag late last week after tenants at the upper east side building chosen for his house arrest refused to allow him, citing unwanted media attention.

Strauss-Kahn has been staying at a temporary location under watch by armed guards with Stroz Friedberg, the same company that guarded disgraced financier Bernard Madoff. It was unclear when Strauss-Kahn would be moved. French and US media were outside the building where Strauss-Kahn spent the weekend after he was released from his Rikers Island prison.

He resigned last Wednesday from the IMF.

His attorneys have described Strauss-Kahn as a loving father and family man. They say his actions after the attack was reported are not those of a guilty man eager for a quick escape. He left the hotel, had lunch and then phoned later to ask if he had left anything behind. When hotel staff said he had left his mobile phone, he told them exactly where he was: at John F Kennedy airport on a flight bound for Paris. Authorities pulled him from the aircraft.


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