Strauss-Kahn has been charged with attempted rape, sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment, and forcible touching, according to the Associated Press. Had he been in France, some of those charges would not have been leveled against him – simply because they don’t exist in the country’s legal code. Forcible touching, for example, would likely end up wrapped into broader sexual assault charges. The ability to break down a sexual assault into more discrete charges could also lead to longer prison sentences as each charge is associated with a certain number of years.
French magistrate Antoine Garapon told the AP that someone charged with this kind of sexual assault, which could add up to more than 70 years in prison in the US, would likely only garner only three to five years in prison in France.
