Three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Lawrence Taylor pleaded not guilty yesterday to several criminal charges, including charges of third-degree rape, engaging in oral sex with a minor and third-degree criminal sexual act. The former football player was arraigned in Rockland County Court yesterday and is due back in court on August 24 to set a trial date.
Reuters reports that the former New York Giants linebacker has been accused of paying a 16-year-old runaway girl $300 for sex. Lawrence Taylor reportedly admitted to engaging in sexual acts with the girl, but claims that he was told that the girl was 19 years old. But ignorance of a minor's age is not a defense to a third-degree rape charge.
New York criminal defense attorneys are now looking in whether the statements that Lawrence Taylor made were voluntary and if his legal rights were violated when he was being interrogated. Third-degree rape in the state of New York is a crime where a person over the age of 21 engages in consensual sexual intercourse with another person who less than seventeen years old, according to § 130.25 of the New York Penal Code.
A New York criminal defense attorney will often consider the establishment of a plea bargain in cases like this, but Lawrence Taylor's attorney Arthur Aidala stated that him and his client are not looking for a plea bargain quite yet.
"A plea bargain is possible at any time in any case," Arthur Aidala said in the National Football Post. "But in this case, "There is no plea bargain. There is no offer. Mr. Taylor is very much looking forward to going forward, putting this behind him, and going on to live his life."
Related Resources:
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Lawrence Taylor Indicted on Rape Charges (FindLaw's New York Criminal Law Blog)
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Rape in the Third (FindLaw's Answers)
