Thread: Football great Lawrence Taylor arrested in rape of 15-year-old girl in Ramapo

Football great Lawrence Taylor arrested in rape of 15-year-old girl in Ramapo
By Steve Lieberman and Jane Lerner

MONTEBELLO — Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was arrested in a Rockland hotel overnight and is facing a felony rape charge involving an attack on a 15-year-old girl who apparently was a runaway from New York City controlled by a pimp, authorities said this morning.

The 51-year-old former New York Giants linebacker was taken into custody by Ramapo police at the Holiday Inn off Airmont Road, Ramapo Police Detective Lt. Brad Weidel said.

Taylor was being held in the town police lockup pending arraignment in Ramapo Justice Court this afternoon. One of the charges being considered is third-degree rape, a charge that involves having intercourse with a minor.

The victim was reportedly beaten during the attack.
Related

* Lawrence Taylor bio: New York Giants Historical Wiki
* Police press release about Lawrence Taylor's arrest

Taylor's lawyer, Kenneth Gribetz, said he has not seen the charges or the details of accusations.

Gribetz, a former Rockland district attorney, said he's confident Taylor will be released on bail later this afternoon and eventually exonerated.

"We firmly contend he is innocent of the charges and will be fully exonerated," Gribetz said.

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Gribetz and his law partner, Deborah Lowenberg, met with Taylor at the Ramapo police lockup.

"He's upset as anyone would in this situation," Gribetz said of Taylor. "He's looking forward to an early arraignment and release."

Taylor, a football icon and one of the NFL's greatest defensive players, has a history of drug abuse and other run-ins with the law. He has tested positive for cocaine several times during his NFL career and has been arrested for buying cocaine from undercover police officers.

Taylor, who has a home in New Jersey, told police he was a resident of Pembroke Pines, Fla. He has frequently played golf in Rockland.

Ramapo police were planning a news conference later this afternoon to provide more details in the case.

The victim apparently was a runaway from the Bronx who was brought by a pimp to the Holiday Inn where Taylor was staying, Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said this morning.

The girl got beaten up at the hotel, authorities said, and later needed treatment at a hospital.

"She was a runaway since March and there was a pimp involved," St. Lawrence said. "She got punched in the face. We're not sure who did it."

The police got involved after the girl texted her uncle as the pimp drove her down to the Bronx, St. Lawrence said. The uncle called the New York City Police Department and officers met the pimp's car in the city, St. Lawrence said.

The police took statements from the girl, arrested the pimp and called the Ramapo Police Department, who sent officers to the hotel to investigate.

This just in......Lawrence Taylor has low moral standards. no kidding. How is this even a story? if this girl was actually 19 like he thought it would be just another case of a professional athlete hiring a hooker. His crime is being too stupid to tell the difference between a 16 and a 19 year old. This is the same guy who would brag about hiring hookers and send them to the rooms of his opponents to keep them up late at night so they would play badly the next day.