INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY?

IT WAS SUCH AN UGLY SCENARIO that everyone — law enforcement, newspapers and TV — jumped in with both feet to pounce on and batter a wealthy Frenchman accused of raping a chambermaid in a New York Hotel.

DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN was forced to resign his position with the International Monetary Fund, was paraded in chains, forced to spend time in jail, and called vile names by the New York Post, Rupert Murdoch’s mud-slinging rag. Strauss-Kahn had his name and face dragged through every media outlet.

WHAT FUN FOR ALL except the hated Frenchman and his loyal wife.

WHAT HAPPENED? TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION and officials came to the conclusion that the chambermaid wasn’t being honest and whatever sex there was may have been consensual.

THE NEW YORK POST then squirted its venom on the maid, who is now suing them for libel.

WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS A RUSH TO JUDGEMENT TIMES TWO — OR MAYBE THREE. A French writer is coming forward with a criminal complaint against Strauss-Kahn for trying to rape her nine years ago!

WILL THE FRENCHMAN be exposed to another round of loathing? Will the chambermaid be sent back to Guinea? Will the attractive young French writer get a book contract, a movie role?

WHAT IF A RESPECTED, RICH AMERICAN POLITICIAN was accused of raping a hotel maid in Paris? Would the French treat him as shabbily, as harshly as we did Strauss-Kahn? Would he be innocent until found guilty? Sex is not a four-letter word in France, but rape is. The French gave us the statue of Liberty, Bridget Bardot, crispy fries and the randy Strauss-Kahn.

WE GAVE THE FRENCH a good laugh at our rush to judgment. Cherchez la femme is their advice, but we did not heed those wise words.

WHO IS THE WELL KNOWN PHILANTHROPIC WIDOW who just had a facelift so perfect she now looks younger than her 35-year-old daughter!

NO SEX UNTIL THE DEFICIT PROBLEM IS SOLVED! Sisters, Lysistrata leads the way. She and her friends ended the Peloponnesian Wars in Ancient Greece by denying sexual favors to men until they lay down their arms. Let John Boehner cry and congressional members ache for lack of love until they end the stalemate.

RANDY ROBERTS POTTS, OPENLY GAY GRANDSON OF TV EVANGELIST ORAL ROBERTS, will be in town at 10 a.m. on July 30 at the Sheraton Hotel for a free seminar and panel discussion. He will share his coming out story and the pain of being rejected. Bishop Carlton Pearson hosts Randy’s appearance.

MARILYN MONROE MAY BE 26 FEET TALL as she towers over pedestrians on North Michigan Avenue, secure in her beauty and white gown, but we prefer to remember the sweet, vulnerable, rather homely starlet at 22 as pictured in this column. Photographed in 1948, our pix shows the hopeful actress before her nose was reshaped and she went on to fame, fortune and an untimely death at 36. Norma Jean lacked stability in her young life lived in foster homes, and could not cope with rejection, real or imagined. Was she a suicide? Yes. A friend saw her body and told us her toenails were filthy and there was other evidence that she was unable to take care of herself, symptoms or depression and mental decline. Seward Johnson’s “Forever Marilyn” statue is a reproduction of her famous Seven Year Itch pose and she looks happy — but she never was.

HAIR STYLISTS ARE WARNING ABOUT POSSIBLE TOXIC effects of the expensive Brazilian Blowout keratin treatment that tames hair to silky smoothness. There’s lots of formaldehyde (linked to nose and lung cancer) and when heated, it can be deadly.

LOVE WAS IN THE AIR so Phyllis Dangoia and Bruce Behrstock eloped to Las Vegas. They are thrilled to be married and want the world to know.

FORMER FIRST LADY BETTY FORD, 93, was a great dame and deserves our thanks for speaking up about her addiction, for abortion rights and living her role as a real wife and mother — not as some prepackaged, camera-ready phony.

OH MY GOD DEPT. … Hating your husband is one thing, but drugging him, cutting off his penis and grinding it up in the garbage disposal is just plain inhumane. Nobody deserves that, but Catherine Becker, 48, of L.A. told police her mate did. Remember Lorena Bobbitt, who cut off hubby John’s wand in ’93? It was found, reattached and since he then made porno flicks, we presume it was in working order. What a warning to nasty husbands.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS that while attending a doll convention in Vegas, you would meet the son of the celeb you are named for? It happened to Abby Persky Delforge who met an Andrew Leff. How do you spell your first name, he asked. “I spell it Abby, but I was named Abbe for singer/actress Abbe Lane,” she replied. “That’s my mom,” he told her. Abbe Lane, now 78, is married to Perry Leff, and is still warbling and in good health. We all remember the brunette beauty singing with husband Xavier Cugat and starring in films. Abby’s mother, Beverly Persky, adored Abbe and so named her only daughter for the star.

TABU, ACCLAIMED BOLLYWOOD ACTRESS was at the Art Institute as part of the Eye on India Film Festival. She is best known for her leading role in Mira Nair’s “The Namesake.”

SADDEST NEWS OF THE WEEK … A motorcyclist at a protest ride against wearing helmet laws was killed after he flipped over the handlebars and struck his head on the pavement. If he had been wearing a helmet, Philip Contlos, 55, would have lived, said police. Let us hope other bikers got this message. They call unhelmeted cyclists “body donors.”

I’LL BE BACK ON THE DANCE FLOOR on my birthday, Aug. 30, vowed exercise and dancing coach Marianne Ronquillo, who just had her second hip replacement.

TRIAL LAWYER JORDAN MARGOLIS has penned a book, Excuseman Only Tortures English exposing the hypocrisy of celebs, politicians, corporation and “just plain screw ups who won’t fess up.” It reveals his Power of Reverse Apology, a faux science explaining how humorously blaming others exposes the fault of the doer. His satire pokes fun at those who insult our intelligence with half-hearted and lame excuses supplying even more outrageous explanations of their behavior. He matches wits with Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jay Leno, etc.

HARRY POTTER STAR MATTHEW LEWIS surprised the audience at the AMC River East Theatre marking the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Fans mobbed him.

HORSE RACE LOVERS are marking their calendars for the Arlington Million Aug. 13 at handsome Arlington Park.

WHAT’S WITH SUBURBAN FASHIONISTAS? Some showed up at a breakfast meeting wearing strapless cocktail attire. Was it assignations in their afternoons or just bad taste?

AN EXCITING DAY AT THE RACES for supporters of the Service Club is Sept. 11 chaired by Sylvia Muller, Darby Hills and Jennifer Lane. Guests wear hats and enjoy a fab luncheon, people and horse-watching. (Remember, jeans are never allowed at Arlington Park Race Course.)

SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY to David Hasselhoff, James Brolin, Gisele Bundchen, Robin Williams, Woody Harrelson and Donald Sutherland.

THE NEW TV SERIES “THE GREAT ESCAPE,” is the brainchild of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer who gave us “24.” It drops contestants into their own adventure movie and they must use all their wits and wiles to escape.

THE ACTING CAREER OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY’S daughter Kathleen is in high gear. She has a role in the HBO pilot “More As This Story Develops” about cable news. A graduate of Stanford U., she has daddy’s girlfriend, Cheryl Hines of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to show her the ropes and introduce her to biggies in the industry.

MUGGINGS AND PURSE SNATCHINGS ARE INCREASING as are thefts from homes and cars. Don’t carry all your credit cards. You only need one and if your wallet is stolen, it is a real pain sorting things out. Never hang your purse over a chair, especially in a restaurant.

“I’M LUCKY THAT PEOPLE HAVE A NEGATIVE CONCEPTION OF ME; I CAN ONLY LOOK NICE AFTER THAT.” —SARAH FERGUSON, DUCHESS OF YORK

CONTACT: annbgerber@gmail.com or 847-677-2232