Lawrence Taylor Takes Another Hit

Lawrence Taylor has now officially been arrested and charged with third degree rape and patronizing of a prostitute for his alleged activity with a 16 year old girl at a New York Holiday Inn. This is not the first run-in with the law LT has experienced. He has been arrested and charged numberous times over the past 15 years for various things such as attempting to purchase "crack" from under cover police officers, drug possession, and traffic violations, among others. In New York, third degree rape (or statutory rape as many people know it) is when an adult engages in sexual activity with a person under the age of 17. Third degree rape is a strict liability crime, meaning there does not have to be intent to commit a crime by LT, and fault is irrleveant. It is not a defense if LT thought she was 17 or even if the alleged victim consented. If convicted, these charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 5 years. Because third degree rape is a Class E felony in New York, if LT is willing to negotiate, he could likely agree to a reduced charge and get off with little or no prison time. This is just another sad chapter in the life of what may be the best defensive player of all-time in the NFL. For those of you who didn't get a chance to appreciate him, he had an unparalleled combination of speed and strength that dominated opposing offenses (as well as opponents in Tecmo Bowl on the original Nintendo). On a positive note, at least there were no drugs found at his hotel room when he was arrested.