More details have come to light regarding the alleged statutory rape between former NFL great Lawrence Taylor and a 16 year old runaway prostitute.
This is an approximate timeline of what happened.
Taylor at some point solicited a pimp, Rasheed Davis, who brought the 16 year old girl to Taylor’s room at the Holiday Inn (he could have at least gotten the Marriot). At some point had the young lady had been hit by Mr. Davis, according to the police.
According to police, Taylor and the young woman had sex. The police declined to say if it was consensual or not, but under the laws of NY state it doesn’t matter. Minors under the age of 17 can not give consent by law, so any person over 21 who has sex with a minor can be charged with statutory rape.
Taylor’s attorney Arthur Aidala denies that Taylor had sex with the young woman; here are the exact quotes:
“Lawrence Taylor did not rape anybody, am I clear?” Aidala said. “We’re going to fight it as hard as he fought when he was a linebacker for the New York Giants.”
“Lawrence Taylor didn’t have consensual sex with anyone last night. He didn’t have sex with anyone. Mr. Taylor is going to fight each and every one of these charges.”
The cops may have some forensic evidence against Taylor, though. They collected a condom at the scene and took the victim to the hospital to have a “rape test” done.
I find it hard to believe that Taylor didn’t do anything in the hotel room. They might be using the “Clinton Defense,” but $300 seems like a lot for just “Brainiac.” I am not saying Taylor’s lawyer is lying, but it is a bit of a suspect defense.
The police claim that the pimp, Mr. Davis, punched the victim in the eye and forced her to have sex with Taylor for $300.
It is unknown if Taylor knew about the assault or knew how old the young woman was. Once again, according to the law it doesn’t matter.
Ramapo Police Chief Peter Brower made a point of saying “Ignorance is not an excuse to an individual’s age.”
Which may explain why Taylor’s lawyer is going with the “I never had sexual relations with that woman” defense.
It is unclear if the victim is claiming “rape” against Taylor or if the “rape” charge merely came about once the police figured out that she was a minor. Listening closely to the police press conference, it appears to be the latter. No one has said who ID’ed Taylor as the person the victim had sex with.
The police noted several times that Taylor did not abuse the victim in any way and was very concerned about her well being. Also, Taylor was asleep when the police arrived, suggesting that in his mind he didn’t do anything wrong.
Taylor’s attorney claims he doesn’t even know the victim’s name – which isn’t unusual during a “business transaction.”
In the end, Taylor showed extremely bad judgment and going by the letter of the law, if he did have sex with an underage girl he needs to be convicted.
First off, he shouldn’t be involved in prostitution. Secondly, when he saw that the young woman had been assaulted he should have taken a step back, and lastly, he should have asked for ID.
Taylor has no one to blame but himself and no one should feel sorry for him. As soon as he engaged in transactions with a pimp he was doing something that he knew was illegal, and normally when you do illegal activities you can’t be shocked when something goes wrong.
In the immortal words of Jay Z: