NFL legend Lawrence Taylor was recently arrested for rape after he allegedly paid $300 to an underage girl, a 16 year-old prostitute controlled by a pimp identified as Rasheed Davis (mug shot above), for sex in a Holiday Inn in New York.

Lawrence’s accuser told the police she was instructed to tell the former NFL star she was 19 years old. What the victim told Lawrence has no relevance in this case – if she is a minor, it’s always considered a statutory rape whether she lied about her age or not.

Uber New York criminal defense lawyer Ben Brafman tells TMZ, “The age of the person is what controls, not what [the defendant] thought.” Under the law, it’s called “strict liability” — meaning it doesn’t matter if LT had a reasonable belief that the girl was over the age of consent.

The 16 year-old girl reportedly told her pimp she did not want to have sex with Lawrence but was forced to. Lawrence has been charged with statutory rape and patronizing a prostitute. His lawyer stated Lawrence did not have sex with the girl, but according to an insider Lawrence is “devastated”, insisting he’s “not into the world of 16-year-olds” and that he honestly believe she was 19 or 21.

The pimp has been accused of forcing the 16-year-old to “engage in multiple commercial sex acts with various individuals” … and even “set the prices.” Rasheed is currently being investigated on suspicions of sex trafficking, which is a federal offense. Rasheed also took several nude pictures of the teenage prostitute to show to his costumers and confirmed to have received money from pimping out the victim to Lawrence and other costumers.

[image: TMZ]