Former NFL football player Lawrence Taylor (R) leaves Rockland County Court with his attorney Arthur Aidala after pleading not guilty to third-degree rape charges after his arraignment in New City, New York, July 13, 2010. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES – Tags: CRIME LAW SPORT FOOTBALL)
ESPN.com reports that Lawrence Taylor was given the lowest sex offender status stemming from his arrest for having sex with a 16-year-0ld girl in 2010. His name will not appear on an online sex offender registry list after he was given Level 1 status in court on Tuesday.
Taylor, who was not present at the hearing, pleaded guilty in January to two counts, sexual misconduct and soliciting a prostitute in the third degree. Last month he was sentenced to six years’ probation in his home state of Florida. As a Level 1 offender he will not have his picture in an online database, but Kelly said that given the notoriety of the case, in effect there was very little difference between Level 1 and Level 2 for Taylor.
There are three levels of sex offenders: Level 1 offenders are characterized as being a low risk to the public, Level 2 are medium risk and Level 3 are high risk. People registered as the latter two have their names made available to the public, and authorities can go so far as to alert “vulnerable populations,” such as those at a school, nursing home or day care agency, that an offender is living in their neighborhood.
Level 1 offenders must register for 20 years, while the other two levels of offenders must register for the rest of their lives.
Aidala said knowing that he is the lowest level will be a “relief” for Taylor, and that it may make a difference when it comes to sponsorship opportunities in the future. He said Taylor will be a headline guest at a Montclair, N.J., charity golf tournament on June 20, to benefit disabled children.
Well good for you, L.T.! I would write something like, “Well maybe he’ll learn from this situation and stay out of trouble,” but he’s Lawrence freaking Taylor. He’s going to get caught doing something stupid but let’s just hope this is the last and only time the man shows up in the headlines for allegedly raping someone.
He was also hit with charges of endangering the welfare of a child and patronizing a prostitute. Taylor was busted on May 6 at a Holiday Inn after the 16-year-old told cops he paid her $300 to have sex with him.
Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said the teen told them she’d been driven to the hotel by a Bronx pimp – and that she had been verbally threatened and physically assaulted.
Taylor has denied the charges – and has reportedly come up with a dubious defense, namely that he pleasured himself and never touched the girl.
But in an interview with The Daily News, the baby-faced teen insisted she and Taylor “definitely had intercourse.”
“If he’s saying we didn’t, that’s not true,” she said.
I find it hard to believe that Taylor paid someone $300 so that he could flog the dolphin while she just sat there. Then again, this was also the same man that claims he hired and sent hookers to opponents’ hotel rooms the night before games in an attempt to tire them out and has been arrested multiple times for trying to buy coke from undercover police officers. So who knows what he’s into.
According to a report by TMZ.com, the victim in the Lawrence Taylor rape case was forced (by her pimp) to tell the former football star that she was 19.
According to the federal criminal complaint, an FBI agent assigned to the case claims Davis had “caused” the 16-year-old to “engage in multiple commercial sex acts with various individuals” … and even “set the prices.”
The FBI agent also claims that Davis had taken several “almost nude” photographs of the girl on his cell phone in order to obtain customers.
In the docs, the FBI agent claims Davis had sent the girl text messages instructing her to have sex with a client (Lawrence Taylor) on May 5th — but the girl refused.
So, according to the agent, Davis physically assaulted her “in an effort to coerce [the victim] into participating in a commercial sex act.”
According to the agent, Davis then instructed the victim to tell Lawrence Taylor that she was 19 and charge him $300 for sex.
Taylor’s defense team now has a loophole that it can attack. If LT was under the impression that she was 19 because she told him that, then is it considered rape? If he believed he was buying time with a prostitute and didn’t force her to have sex, will he be cleared of rape charges?
Taylor is far from being an innocent bystander here, but this new development may get him out of facing rape charges, which could put him away for four years.
Less than 24 hours after he was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, weight-loss program Nutrisystem has ended its endorsement deal with Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor.
From TMZ.com:
TMZ spoke to a rep at the weight loss company, who told us, “We are shocked and saddened by these very serious allegations against Lawrence Taylor.”
The rep added, “Based on the severity of these allegations, Nutrisystem has made the decision to sever our relationship with Mr. Taylor effective immediately.”
And Nutrisystem really does work fast — they’ve already replaced Taylor’s image on their website with slimmed down San Diego Padres star Matt Stairs.
We saw it happen to Michael Vick, Tiger Woods and now Lawrence Taylor. Companies know that some people in our society wake up in the morning ready to be offended about something. On a whole, we are uptight, sensitive and defensive and people expect big companies to act swiftly when it comes to breaking off endorsement deals, whether the athlete or celebrity has been convicted of anything of not.
That said, I’m not suggesting that Nutrisystem shouldn’t have dropped Taylor. Obviously a company doesn’t want to be associated with a dog fighter, someone who cheats on their wife or a potential rapist. But I do find it interesting that companies are acting quickly when it comes to dropping endorsers that get into trouble. I think it’s a good thing, but I also believe it speaks to where we are as a society (i.e. act now, think later).
A second man was arrested in the case, New York City police said. Rasheed Davis, a 36-year-old parolee, was arrested on charges of unlawful imprisonment, assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said Davis drove the girl, who had been staying with him in the Bronx for a few weeks, to the Holiday Inn and told her she had to have sex with Taylor. She said she refused, Taylor sexually assaulted her, then he paid her $300, which she gave to Davis, police said.
Davis “struck the young girl with his fist, kicked her and brought her to the Holiday Inn against her will,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
On the way back from Suffern, the girl sent text messages to her uncle spelling out what had happened, Browne said. The uncle then went to the NYPD, he said.
New York City police alerted Ramapo authorities to what happened. Police then went to Taylor’s hotel room and arrested him.
Sex with a 16-year-old cannot be consensual in New York state and if convicted, Taylor could spend up to four years in prison. It’s important to note that LT has not been charged with anything, but it appears as though that could change as more details from this story emerge.
According to a report by WCBSTV.com, Hall of Fame NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor was arrested early Thursday morning in New York on charges of raping a 16-year-old girl at a hotel.
Taylor, 51, was taken into custody by the Town of Ramapo police after being accused of raping someone in the Holiday Inn Holidome Hotel in Suffern.
Details surrounding the rape have not yet been released other than the location and that it occurred early this morning. Charges against the Hall of Fame linebacker will be filed once police complete their investigation.
Over the past 20 years, LT has been arrested on drug charges and for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident, has been on probation for tax evasion and has now been accused of rape. While it’s important not to draw conclusions from one report, it’s safe to say that Taylor hasn’t made a lot of good decisions in his life.
We’ll have to wait for more details to emerge, but this is certainly troubling news for the man that helped revolutionize the way the game of football is played.
- SPORTSbyBROOKS comments on the Orlando Sentinel report that some of the first responders to Tiger’s Thanksgiving Day accident were actually part of his security team in their off hours.
This is the guy that people often refer to as the greatest defender to have ever played the game. And somehow, I’m fine with that in the wake of this clip.
Ask any defender that has tried to tackle Jerome Bettis and we’re sure each and every one of them has their own horrifying tale. The 250-pound running back rushed for 13,662 yards and 94 touchdowns in his successful career, while also racking up six Pro Bowl appearances and claiming the 1993 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, the 1996 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the 2001 Walter Payton Man of the Year awards. Did we mention he also won a Super Bowl?
“The Bus” has teamed up with DiGiorno for their “You Bettis Believe” sweepstakes, which runs through February 12th and will award one lucky winner (along with 10 of his or her friends) a chance to win a fantasy football draft party hosted by DiGiorno and Jerome. The winner and his group will be heading to Las Vegas in August for the draft and of course, the chance to meet Jerome Bettis. All you have to do to sign up is visit Facebook.com/Digiorno for a chance to win.
Along with providing more details on the “You Bettis Believe” sweepstakes, Jerome was more than happy to talk a little football with us. We asked him what his most memorable moment was from the Steelers’ run to the Super Bowl in 2005, what was the hardest hit he ever laid on a defender and what he thinks it’ll take for the Steelers to get back in title contention. He also filled us in on where Bill Cowher may wind up when he decides to start coaching again.
The Scores Report: Hey Jerome, how are you this is Anthony.
Jerome Bettis: How you doing, Anthony?
TSR: Real good, I appreciate your joining me today.
JB: Oh, not a problem.
TSR: Talk to me a little bit about this DiGiorno’s sweepstakes that you’re a part of. This fantasy football draft in Vegas sounds like a great time.
JB: The sweepstakes is called “You Bettis Believe” and all you have to do is go to Facebook.com/DiGiorno and register to win the fantasy football draft party in Las Vegas. You get the opportunity to go out to Vegas and have a fantasy football draft with me. We’ll talk football, pizza; it’s the best sweepstakes you could ever win. The 12th of February is the last day you can enter so make sure you go to Facebook.com/DiGiorno to sign up.
The Super Bowl has been played since the 1966 season, so while NFL championships before that are not irrelevant, many records are based on the “Super Bowl era.” And while some teams have a great track record in Super Bowls (49ers), there are others that have awful records (Vikings, Bills). Here is a list of the Top 10 teams record-wise (based primarily on wins) in the Super Bowl era…..
1. San Francisco 49ers (5-0)—The 49ers are undefeated in Super Bowl history, and when you have guys like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice and Steve Young leading the way, it’s easy to see how that happens. But these teams were deep on both offense and defense, and were coached by Bill Walsh and George Seifert. What might be even more remarkable is that the Niners have scored 188 points while giving up 89 in those five games, a 99-point differential. Truly, ahem, super.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-1)—The Steelers are looking to become the first team to win six Super Bowls this Sunday in Tampa against the Cardinals and the second one in the Ben Roethlisberger era. They are already one of the NFL’s premier franchises, but more is always better when it comes to championships.
3. Dallas Cowboys (5-3)—The Cowboys have a rich history of winning, but in today’s what-have-you-done-for-me-lately NFL, all anyone remembers is that they haven’t won a playoff game since 1996, and that dysfunction follows them around like tabloids following QB Tony Romo.
4. Green Bay Packers (3-1)—You might immediately think of Brett Favre, but he is only 1-1 in Super Bowls. The other two were Super Bowls I and II, when Bart Starr was the Packers’ QB and the coach was the legendary Vince Lombardi.
5. New York Giants (3-1)—The Giants climbed up a few notches with that improbable upset of the Patriots last season. Bill Parcells has two of the wins, one with Phil Simms at the helm and the other with Jeff Hostetler—and both with one of the greatest defensive players in history, Lawrence Taylor, terrorizing the other teams’ quarterbacks.
6. Oakland/LA Raiders (3-2)—It’s been about a quarter century since the Raiders won a Super Bowl, or around the same time Al Davis started to lose his marbles.
7. Washington Redskins (3-2)—The Redskins lost to Miami in Super Bowl 7, 14-7, to cap Miami’s (and the NFL’s only) perfect season, and have had mixed results since then, last appearing in 1991 when they beat Buffalo. Hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years since their last Super Bowl, but Dan Snyder makes Al Davis type decisions at times, so the drought could be long.
8. New England Patriots (3-3)—Have the Patriots have lost as many Super Bowls as they’ve won? Yes, when you realize the first two losses were to the mighty ’85 Bears, and to the unstoppable Favre/Holmgren Packers in ’96.
9. Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (2-1)—You would think Peyton Manning should have more than one Super Bowl appearance, but that very fact was the big knock on him until he got his ring two years ago.
10. Miami Dolphins (2-3)—It’s been 25 years since the D-men have been in the big game, but mark my words…with Bill Parcells at the helm, this team will get back there within a few years, maybe even next year.
