# Lawrence Taylor arrested for raping 16-year-old **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 6, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518 "2010-05-06T15:52:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/21 "2010-05-06T19:20:37Z")
[More details here.](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/05/06/lawrence-taylor.ap/index.html?eref=sihp) Reports now say the girl was 16, which of course is still underage. But they’re also starting to give details on how this allegedly happened: > [@](#): > > Another man, Rasheed Davis, 36, was arrested in the case on charges of unlawful imprisonment, assault and endangering the welfare of a child. > > Police said the girl had been staying with Davis in the Bronx for a few weeks. He beat her up, drove her to the Holiday Inn and told her she had to have sex with Taylor, police said. When she refused, Davis handed her over to Taylor, who sexually assaulted her, they said. Taylor 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. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/22 "2010-05-06T19:33:38Z")
It’s really difficult to see any excuses for LT in any of that. The pimp is even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/23 "2010-05-06T20:47:16Z")
His lawyer says flatly LT didn’t have any kind of sex with anyone last night. Period. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/24 "2010-05-06T21:03:40Z")
[LT’s lawyer sounds, um, “interesting”.](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/05/06/2010-05-06_giants_legend_lawrence_taylor_arrested_in_new_york_rape_case.html) “In a bizarre twist, Taylor was initially represented by Kenneth Gribetz, who resigned as Rockland County district attorney in 1995 after The Daily News revealed he used taxpayer and campaign money to fund a kinky extramarital affair — and that he sometimes wore women’s clothing and liked to call himself a “bad girl.”” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/25 "2010-05-06T21:14:41Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > His lawyer says flatly LT didn’t have any kind of sex with anyone last night. Period. The cops say different. I doubt he’d have actually been arrested and charged so quickly without some kind of decent evidence, but we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![AThingWithFeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@AThingWithFeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AThingWithFeathers)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/26 "2010-05-06T21:19:03Z")
…I’m visiting home for the week and I went to pick up groceries and there were photographers outside of the police station. I come home and my little brother was watching this thing on TV. My favorite part about this is how they can’t decide whether we’re “upstate New York” or “a New York City suburb.” I know the cops repeatedly say “ignorance is not an excuse” and I understand that from a legal standpoint, though I’m not sure it qualifies ethically. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/27 "2010-05-06T21:20:39Z")
> [@AThingWithFeathers](#): > > I know the cops repeatedly say “ignorance is not an excuse” and I understand that from a legal standpoint, though I’m not sure it qualifies ethically. If the situation happened the way the police are describing, that ethics issue is not relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/28 "2010-05-06T21:23:24Z")
I can’t see “her pimp said she was twenty-two” as any kind of ethical defense. ---
**Author:** ![AThingWithFeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@AThingWithFeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AThingWithFeathers)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/29 "2010-05-06T21:41:14Z")
I never said ethics had anything to do with the legality of it all. Apparently, town has it that LT has been frequenting the Holidome with prostitutes since at least the early 80’s, usually drugged out. It’s just that this one happened to be underage and he happened to get caught. Crimes happen every day, this one is just being blown up because we’re inherently voyeuristic when it comes to famous people. Doesn’t excuse his behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/30 "2010-05-06T22:18:50Z")
> [@AThingWithFeathers](#): > > Apparently, town has it that LT has been frequenting the Holidome with prostitutes since at least the early 80’s, usually drugged out. It’s just that this one happened to be underage and he happened to get caught. If the cops are right, this one happened to be a runaway kidnapped by her pimp and then beaten up. That’s a little more extreme than just being unaware of her age. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/31 "2010-05-06T22:59:23Z")
Should the thread title be modified to “16” year old or does it not matter? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/32 "2010-05-06T23:18:22Z")
Big Ben is likely relieved that he’s no longer the front page sex scandal of the NFL. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/33 "2010-05-07T00:20:33Z")
While I don’t know for sure what happened here, I do know that LT has been given more second chances at redemption (by both the courts and the public at large) than anyone I can think of. If this is a truthful allegation, he should serve many, many years in prison (a real prison, not some half-assed rehab center) and maybe it will sink into his cocaine-addled brain that he is not above the law, and is expected to conduct himself as anyone else would have to. I am sick of entitled entertainers (Andy Dick, Lindsay Lohan) getting a mere slap on the wrist for repeated criminal activity, and then laughingly staggering off into the night to the closest Hollywood nightclub/24 hour-pharmacy/transexxual whorehouse/adult diaper emporium/opium den/package liquor store, where they are greeted with open arms. Lawrence Taylor, you are a piece of shit, and maybe finally your luck has run out… ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/34 "2010-05-07T00:46:24Z")
Meh. I’m not sure what the deal is with the beating; if LT did that throw the book at him. But if he didn’t, then my reaction is meh. He’s been going to hookers his entire adult life. Hell, he’s sent hookers to opposing players the night before playoff games. The man is a big fan of hookers. Who cares? I guess our uptight country looks down on that, but I don’t. I put hookers in the same category as smoking pot and filesharing. As for the “she’s 16 so it’s a crime no matter what” idea, I call bullshit on that technicality. It may be a crime in New York to bang a 16 year old, but it’s not a crime in my state. (Connecticut) So why should I view it as wrong? In fact, the age of consent is 16 in most of the country. According to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America#State_laws) the age of consent is 16 in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/35 "2010-05-07T01:22:52Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > As for the “she’s 16 so it’s a crime no matter what” idea, I call bullshit on that technicality. It may be a crime in New York to bang a 16 year old, but it’s not a crime in my state. (Connecticut) So why should I view it as wrong? In fact, the age of consent is 16 in most of the country. If you don’t understand why it’s wrong for a man in his 40’s to bang a girl who’s 16, then I think it’s been a very long time since you’ve had a conversation with a 16 year old girl. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/36 "2010-05-07T03:24:18Z")
She wasn’t a prostitute either. She was being pimped against her will. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/37 "2010-05-07T03:34:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > She wasn’t a prostitute either. She was being pimped against her will. She was being prostituted. Jewish factory workers were forced to work against their will, too, but they were still factory workers. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/38 "2010-05-07T03:52:21Z")
No, being raped doesn’t make you a prostitute. That word implies some kind of choice. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/39 "2010-05-07T03:53:40Z")
No, being prostituted makes you a prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518/40 "2010-05-07T04:00:58Z")
You can say it as many times as you want, but I’m not going to call a child a prostitute because she gets kidnapped and raped. She wasn’t a prostitute. She was just a rape victim. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-taylor-arrested-for-raping-16-year-old/538518.md?page=3)