Prostitutes, ex-IMF boss offer raunchy orgy testimony at pimping trial

PARIS -- Half-way through his three-week trial for aggravated pimping, ex-IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been forced under days of judicial questioning to explicitly detail his history of, in his own words, "libertine" sexual practices.

Strauss-Kahn pleads innocence, saying he had no way of knowing the women who took part in his orgies at luxury hotels in Paris, Brussels and Washington, weren't freely consenting libertines like himself, but in fact prostitutes paid for by some of his 13 co-defendants in the case.

CBS News' Elaine Cobb reports that Strauss-Kahn, who refused to take a psychological evaluation, submitted a letter at the trial to psychological experts saying he had "committed neither crime nor offense."

The trial is scheduled to run until Feb. 20. While much of the courtroom testimony is raunchy, here is a toned-down selection of some of the attention-grabbing testimony made so far:

___

"It was a slaughterhouse. They were lying on the mattress in all directions. It was a rather degrading scene. I didn't know whether these people had showered. I didn't want any part of it."

--Ex-prostitute known as "Jade," testifying about a 2009 orgy with Strauss-Kahn at a Belgian sex club.

___

"That's him, but with his clothes on."

--Ex-prostitute known as "Jade," testifying about how she only realized Strauss-Kahn's identity after she saw him on television sometime after one of his orgies.

___

"We met 12 times in four years. It wasn't the frenetic, unbridled activity that the investigating magistrates' report makes out. At the time, I mention without pretension, I had other things to do."

--Strauss-Kahn, in response to questioning over the frequency of his orgies during the period in which he is accused of organizing a prostitution ring.

___

"What can I say? It's nothing to be proud of, but there have been 10 times that I've found myself in a situation where a woman threw herself at me."

--Strauss-Kahn, in response to questioning about why he didn't suspect the women he spontaneously had sex with in a restaurant basement were prostitutes.

___

"I had a very hectic life, with just a few outlets for recreation, and these sessions were part of that."

--Strauss-Kahn, explaining how the function of IMF chief limited his occasions for sex parties.

___

"People say that at these soirees, the girls were gifts, but in fact at these parties the gift was Dominique Strauss-Kahn."

--Co-defendant Fabrice Paszkowski, testifying about the organization of Strauss-Kahn's orgies.

___

"That's certainly what some people think, and I believe the IMF saved the world from a crisis that could have been as bad as that of 1929."

--Strauss-Kahn, responding to a judge's description of him as "once one of the world's most powerful people."

___

"I dare you to distinguish between a prostitute and a naked socialite."

--Strauss-Kahn lawyer Henri Leclerc, explaining the difficulty Strauss-Kahn had in identifying his sex partners as prostitutes.