If you have been keeping track, today marks the third time in just over a year that former International Monetary Fund president Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been legally accused of rape — which does not include claims in a French book that he previous raped a maid in a Mexican hotel and 14 other women.

Strauss-Kahn, who says in his defense that the prudish press simply objects to what he terms to his “libertine” lifestyle and that the rape charges in New York were part of a vast political conspiracy, already denies raping Nafissatou Diallo and Tristane Banon and, presumably, the other 16 women who have accused him of rape.

So at what point does he stop deserving the benefit of the doubt so many were willing to accord him in the wake of Diallo’s allegations?

Statistics show that rapists are most likely white (52 percent of those reported to law enforcement in this country are); that two-thirds of rapists know their victims; that almost one-quarter are married; and that 84 percent used only physical force on their victims. Other statistics show that 72 percent of rapes go unreported; when rapes are reported, only about half of the perpetrators are ever arrested; 20 percent of those arrested never face prosecution; 40 percent of those prosecuted walk away without a felony conviction; and 30 percent of those convicted of a felony avoid jail time. In other words, 19 out of every 20 rapists walks the streets today virtually untouched by legal consequences.

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If you have been keeping track, today marks the third time in just over a year that former International Monetary Fund president Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been legally accused of rape — which does not include claims in a French book that he previous raped a maid in a Mexican hotel and 14 other women.

Strauss-Kahn, who says in his defense that the prudish press simply objects to what he terms to his “libertine” lifestyle and that the rape charges in New York were part of a vast political conspiracy, already denies raping Nafissatou Diallo and Tristane Banon and, presumably, the other 16 women who have accused him of rape.

So at what point does he stop deserving the benefit of the doubt so many were willing to accord him in the wake of Diallo’s allegations?

Statistics show that rapists are most likely white (52 percent of those reported to law enforcement in this country are); that two-thirds of rapists know their victims; that almost one-quarter are married; and that 84 percent used only physical force on their victims. Other statistics show that 72 percent of rapes go unreported; when rapes are reported, only about half of the perpetrators are ever arrested; 20 percent of those arrested never face prosecution; 40 percent of those prosecuted walk away without a felony conviction; and 30 percent of those convicted of a felony avoid jail time. In other words, 19 out of every 20 rapists walks the streets today virtually untouched by legal consequences.

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