NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor is back in court, this time facing a civil lawsuit from the woman he had sex with in a New York hotel room in 2010, when she was 16 years old.
Taylor already pleaded guilty last year to two misdemeanors over the encounter in Montebello, just north of New York City: sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute. He was sentenced to six years of probation and had to register as a sex offender. The man who brought the girl to Taylor’s hotel room and took $300 for it is serving seven years in prison.
Now 19, she has sued Taylor in federal court in Manhattan, seeking unspecified damages. She says she was a runaway being controlled by an abusive pimp and was forced to meet Taylor. She told the jury she brought the lawsuit to hold him accountable, and she broke down in tears on the stand while describing what happened in that room.
Taylor tells it differently. He testified that he paid for sex with a woman he believed was 19. He also denied ignoring signs that she was a teenage runaway in distress. His attorney, Arthur Aidala, has called the lawsuit a money grab aimed at Taylor’s fame.
The Giants legend led New York to two Super Bowl titles and is considered one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history. Off the field, his life has been a long list of drug problems and legal trouble, and this case has done more damage to his name than any of it.
The jury will decide whether Lawrence Taylor owes her anything beyond the criminal sentence he’s already serving.
