Lawrence Taylor, 51, stood handcuffed in front of a magistrate in Ramapo, New York. He was charged with third 
degree rape, a class E felony in the state of New York, as well as patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor.His alleged crime is having had unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who was identified as a prostitute. If found guilty on all charges he could serve up to five years in state prison.
According to his defense counsel, Mr. Arthur Aidala, the rape charge, without other facts that might not be known at this time, usually plea bargains down to a misdemeanor. Mr. Aidala did not state whether jail time is commonly served once that occurs.
The young woman, 16 years of age was brought to Taylor’s Holiday Inn hotel room at 1:00 am on May 6,in Montebello, New York, a section of Ramapo by another man, one Rasheed Davis, 36. Mr. Davis is in the custody of the New York City police department and is the subject of his own criminal investigation.
Mr. Davis’ relationship to the rape victim and the circumstances of how he happened to be in her company, as well as the facts surrounding his relationship with Lawrence Taylor are still being investigated.
The victim had been reported as a missing person in March of 2010 and has been reunited with her uncle, according to Ramapo Supervisor, Christopher St. Lawrence.
St. Lawrence was very careful to tell media at this afternoon’s press conference, that Taylor does not stand accused of physically harming the young woman who was bruised prior to her arrival at Taylor’s hotel room.
In the televised arraignment, Taylor was unable to effectively sign the papers put in front of him related to the bail arrangement because his hands were shackled in front of him.
Mr. Aidala ably argued for Taylor’s release without bail but ultimately lost the decision. The magistrate set his bail at $75,000, although the prosecution had asked for $100,000. Aidala said Taylor would make bail.
Because Taylor is a resident of Florida and is still a party to an open criminal investigation in that state, the judge seemed more inclined to err on the side of caution.
The Hall of Fame former N.Y. Giant linebacker was charged last fall with leaving the scene of an accident. Aidala told the magistrate that he expected Taylor to be exonerated on the charges which he claimed would be dropped.
Luckily for LT, although Mr. St. Lawrence announced there was a bottle of alcohol in the hotel room, he categorically stated that there were no drugs in sight or suspected to be part of the acitivity that occurred during the alleged crime.
While the Ramapo chief of police announced at the press conference that Taylor gave the victim $300.00 prior to her departure from his room, Mr. Aidala told the magistrate that all facts are now being denied and his client pleaded not guilty to both crimes charged.
Re-printed with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
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