The Latest Sad News Regarding A Great Former Football Player

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Article by Dan Wetzel at Yahoo! Sports
Lawrence Taylor’s ability to unleash violence on a football field while maintaining a winning charisma off of it had made him untouchable during so many setbacks through the years.

Drug arrests, deadbeat dad charges and wild antics all melted away with his sheepish smile. If anything, he was able to sell his bad boy image in movie roles and as the front man for an extreme video game. He managed to maintain enough mainstream popularity to hawk diet plans and compete on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Taylor was arrested in November for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident.

It’s all different now. It’s all over for that.
The dark reality of LT’s life has come clear in his arrest Thursday in suburban New York for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl who police say was a runaway under the control of a pimp. Taylor was arrested in Room 160 of the low-rent Holidome in Montebello, N.Y., where the girl told police she was brought to have sex with him.

“[Taylor] engaged in sexual intercourse with a child less than 17 years old for which he paid the victim $300,” said Peter Brower, the police chief in nearby Ramapo.

This is about as horrific as it gets, the worst yet chapter in the tragedy of one of the NFL’s all-time greatest players.

Taylor’s side of the story remains to be heard. He deserves the full presumption of innocence that a court will provide. Bail was set at $75,000 during Thursday’s arraignment in Rockland County, and the case will continue June 10. Taylor did not enter a plea, though his attorney said he would fight the charge, saying at one point Taylor didn’t know the girl at all.

“Lawrence Taylor is denying these charges,” Arthur Aidala, Taylor’s attorney, said at the arraignment.

His defense had better be a strong one.

If this isn’t some incredible case of mistaken identity, it’s difficult to envision an innocent scenario here. You don’t just accidentally get charged with this kind of crime.

It’s why in the court of public opinion, Lawrence Taylor just found a situation that his Hall of Fame highlight reel with the New York Giants can’t overcome, that his likable ways can’t brush away.

The questions are overwhelming for Taylor.

Why was a 51-year-old man in a cheap motel room with a 16-year-old girl at all? Did he notice what Ramapo police say were noticeable facial injuries from a beating that occurred prior to visiting Taylor’s room and still proceeded with the act? And what about the New York Daily News report, based on police sources, that the girl resisted the act?

“We don’t know if this was the first time she’s been asked to do such a thing,” said Ramapo supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence. “We don’t know if it was against her will.”

According to police, Taylor was most adamant in making sure they didn’t think he beat the girl. There was no evidence of drug use according to Chief Brower, although “there was a bottle of alcohol” in the room.

Taylor is being charged with third-degree rape, or statutory rape, which says a child is incapable of consenting with an adult. Police say it was intercourse but wouldn’t detail any physical evidence.

If there was sexual contact then there is no “he said, she said,” no level of consent and no ignorance of age allowed. You’re essentially just guilty. “Ignorance is not an excuse to an individual’s age,” Chief Brower said.

The maximum prison sentence is four years, according to Brower. Taylor is also being charged with patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of one year in prison.

The story is sad on every level and that isn’t to downplay the charges against Taylor. If guilty he deserves no sympathy. If he did it, his substance-abuse problems should grant him no leniency. The girl is the only possible victim here.
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