The son and namesake of former NFL star Lawrence Taylor was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday afternoon to child molestation and rape, the Cobb County District Attorney said.
Lawrence Julius Taylor Jr., 33, of Powder Springs, entered a guilty plea the day his trial was to begin. He was sentenced to 30 years, including 10 behind bars and the remainder on probation, DA Vic Reynolds’ office said.
“Resolving this case with a guilty plea provides the victims with finality and prevents them from having to relive their experiences on the witness stand,” ADA Hannah Palmquist said in an emailed statement. “Justice was done in this case, not only because the defendant will serve 10 years in prison, but because the victims will not have to be put through the emotional toll of a trial.”
Taylor was arrested in July 2013 and accused of raping two girls, including one under the age of 16, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Powder Springs police made the arrest after one of the two girls reported the assault.
A second girl said she witnessed the assault, according to Taylor’s arrest warrant. She also disclosed that she had consensual sex with him “approximately 5 to 6 times” in early 2012 when she was not yet 16 years old.
Taylor was released from the Cobb jail on bond, but was returned to the jail Friday for violating his bond conditions, the DA’s office said. He remained in custody Monday afternoon.
Taylor didn’t follow his father’s footsteps onto the football field, where the elder Taylor starred as linebacker for the New York Giants and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. But the two Taylors followed similar criminal paths and both will be registered sex offenders.
In 2011, the elder Taylor avoided jail time by pleading guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a 16-year-old prostitute.
In an interview with Fox News, Taylor said he asked the prostitute her age and was told she was 19.
“That’s not my M.O. I’ve been around kids and people all my life,” the Hall of Famer said. “I’m not the cause of prostitution… . And I didn’t go pick her up on no playground. She wasn’t hiding behind the school bus or getting off a school bus. This is a working girl that came to my room.”
The younger Taylor attended his father’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1999 as a 17-year-old. He later auctioned a Super Bowl ring his father won in 1991 with the Giants.
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