I should really start this with a disclaimer of some sort. I'm not exactly defending what LT allegedly did. One could make the argument that paying someone for sex is morally wrong. Especially when that somebody appears to be underage. And obviously, if this girl was forced into prostitution, or even if she wasn't I guess, it is a sad situation.In order to make this pseudo-defense, I have to make some assumptions. First, we need to assume that LT paid to have sex with a prostitute, and that he did not know the prostitute was 16. Next, we need to assume that as far as he was concerned, the sex was consensual. As in, the woman didn't try to fight him off or say no, or whatever. These assumptions appear to be safe because of what he was charged with, and I had not heard any accusations of force.
Assuming those things, the media is treating LT unfairly. Every headline this week was "Lawrence Taylor charged with raping a 16 year old girl." 99.9% of America read that headline and had the same reaction I did: "Holy shit. LT was either a) hanging out at one of his kids post prom parties, got a girl drunk and forcibly raped her; or b) LT was hiding behind a dumpster at a high school and forcibly raped a girl against her will." To the average American, that is what you think when you hear the word RAPE.
In legal terms, he was charged with statutory rape, which is essentially having sex with someone that isn't legally old enough to consent. There is not an element of force, and there is not an element that you actually know how old the girl was. If he did what he is accused of, then technically he is a rapist.
To me, there is a HUGE difference between what LT allegedly did which was paying for a prostitute that he had no actual knowledge of her age, and forcing someone to have sex against her will.
Again, I'm not saying he didn't probably commit a crime, or that it was stupid, or in the case of the girl, probably tragic. I just wish the media would stop using the word RAPE, without explaining the details. Because people aren't generally very smart.
As a side note, LT was the best defensive player on Tecmo Bowl, and I once had 100 sacks and 80 INT in a season with him. And he once cut a SUV in half with a large saw on "Any Given Sunday".
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On another note, America is awesome because:
1) Prosecutors generally cannot comment on a Defendant's guilt or even their case to the media; AND
2) Defense attorney's, like LT's, can hold large press conferences and say whatever the hell they want without consequence
Also, his defense is not doing him any favors.
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