Lawrence Taylor, Charged w/ Rape

NY, NY - Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor raped a 16-year-old runaway in a hotel room encounter arranged by a man who beat her up before driving her to Taylor's suburban hotel, police said Thursday.

The former New York Giants linebacker was arrested early Thursday at a Holiday Inn in Suffern, said Christopher St. Lawrence, supervisor of the town of Ramapo.

Ramapo Chief of Police Peter Brower said Taylor was cooperative when police woke him up around 4 a.m. Taylor was arraigned Thursday on charges of third-degree rape and patronizing a prostitute. Bail was set at ,000.

Brower would not comment on whether Taylor knew the girl's age but added, ``Ignorance is not an excuse to an individual's age.'' The age of consent in New York is 17.

An attorney for Taylor, Kenneth Gribetz, said, ``We're confident his innocence will be proven.''

Police said the girl was reported missing by her family in March and had been staying with a 36-year-old parolee, Rasheed Davis, in the Bronx for a few weeks. Early Thursday morning, Davis beat her up, drove her to the hotel and told her she had to have sex with Taylor, police said. When she refused, Davis handed her over to Taylor, who sexually assaulted her, they said. Taylor paid her 0, which she gave to Davis, police said.

Davis ``struck the young girl with his fist, kicked her and brought her to the Holiday Inn against her will,'' NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

On the way back from Suffern, the girl sent text messages to her uncle spelling out what had happened, Browne said. The uncle then went to the NYPD, he said.