Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor pled guilty to two misdemeanor charges in court Thursday, stemming from a May 6 arrest for felony statutory rape. He will receive no jail time and is expected to be sentenced to six years probation.
Taylor pled guilty to one count of soliciting a prostitute and a second count of sexual misconduct in having sex with a woman without consent. Since the victim in the case was 16, by law she was not old enough to give consent.
In court, under oath, Taylor admitted that he had six with a 16-year-old and he said that he was aware that results of a DNA test identifield him.
"She told me she was 19," Taylor said in court.
On March 22, a hearing will be held to determine the level of his sex-offender status. There also was an order of protection against him that was renewed.
Harry Carson, his former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer, was in the courtroom and gave Taylor a supportive greeting when he arrived.
"I've always seen a distinction between Lawrence Taylor and LT," Carson said.
In New York, ignorance of a person's age is not a defense against statutory rape. The age of consent in New York is 17.
Taylor was arrested early in the morning of May 6 at a Holiday Inn in Montebello, N.Y. Police said they were led to his hotel room by a 16-year-old runaway who had allegedly been forced into prostitution by Rasheed Davis.
Davis pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, while Taylor pleaded not guilty to charges of third-degree rape, patronizing a prostitute and endangering the welfare of a child. The rape charge carried a maximum of four years in jail.
Taylor has cooperated with authorities in their investigation of sex trafficking in the New York area.
At the time of the incident, Ramapo town supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence alleged that Taylor paid her $300 for sex. Taylor posted the $75,000 bail later that day.
Aidala on Dec. 8 asked Rockland County Judge William Kelly to dismiss the charges on grounds that Taylor's fourth amendment rights were violated when the hotel room was searched upon his arrest. Physical evidence, including condoms, was recovered in the search. Kelly denied the request.
Taylor led the Giants to two Super Bowl titles, in 1987 and 1991. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Rockland County prosecutor Arthur Ferraro said on Dec. 8 that Taylor had been offered a plea deal which included six months in jail and 10 years' probation if he pled guilty to a felony, but he also would have needed to register as a sex offender. At the time, Aidala said the terms were unacceptable.
