Lawrence Taylor took his first steps into a courthouse yesterday to deal with allegations of sexual assault. Taylor is being accused of third-degree rape and soliciting a prostitute after he allegedly had sex with a girl under the age of 17. Taylor, who is now 51-years old, is accused of paying $300 to have sex with the girl, who was a 16-year old runaway.

Taylor's attorney, Arthur Aidala, says that his client didn't have sex with anyone and that he didn't rape anyone. He also said that he was not likely going to take a plea on the third degree rape charge. A plea on that charge would mean a mandatory 10-year probation, which Aidala says is "ridiculous."

I am an advocate for the protection of children. Therefore, my bias is that if Lawrence Taylor was having sex with an underage girl, he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Additionally, some would even wonder why a 51-year old married man would be hanging out at a hotel with a girl under the age of 25. I am not one of to judge a man's sexual preferences, but these are certainly legitimate questions.

One challenge for Taylor, however, is that he has spent several years working to rebuild his tattered image, and it was sad to see it go up in smoke after an incident like this. Additionally, we cannot say for certain that Taylor is guilty of any crime. A source came to the New York Post shortly after the charges were filed and said that the girl didn't have sex with Taylor at all. I also received some disturbing information from a woman who claims that there are young prostitutes who use fake IDs and date rape drugs to extort money from wealthy athletes and celebrities. While I can't say this happened to Taylor, the woman claimed that this might have been what he was up against.

The moral of the story in the Lawrence Taylor rape trial is clear and multidimensional. First, it says that men should realize that they may not always be the predators, they can sometimes become the prey. If it is the case that Taylor was set up or manipulated in some way, some of this could be avoided by staying out of risky situations. Additionally, the idea of soliciting prostitutes in general can be quite tricky, given the vast array of venereal diseases and the risk of being victimized by crime. Secondly, there may be something to be said about men having sex with women who are within shouting distance of their own ages. This is not to judge a man's decisions one way or the other, but it is to say that we have to think carefully about our choices when we are in high places. All of us make mistakes, but some mistakes are avoidable. I'll get off my high horse though and say that Lawrence is human like the rest of us, and his humanity must be respected as we dig our way to the truth.

I look forward to having the truth released in the Lawrence Taylor case. I sincerely hope he didn't rape that girl.




Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.