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"Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor has been arrested, in New York, in connection with a reported rape." (ESPN)

And the accusations against 51-year-old Lawrence Taylor get more complex. Not only is he accused of rape, but rape of a minor.

The 16-year-old girl is reported to be a runaway, brought to the former NFL star's Holiday Inn hotel room in Ramapo, New York by a 36-year-old parolee — against her will.

ESPN Legal Analyst Roger Cossack explains the penalty of rape — specifically with a minor.  

"What it means is first of all if you are accused and convicted, and I want to underline that we're nowhere near that yet, of raping a minor, the penalty is more severe than it would be of someone else because the problem is, is that minor can't even, even if they want to under the law, can consent. The law says that anyone under the age of 18 or in some places, 21, does not have the right to consent. So, even if this was someone who looks 21 or looks 18, but is really 15, it's not a defense for Taylor."

And HLN's Vinnie Politan breaks down how Taylor's history could hurt him.

“That's the problem Lawrence Taylor has. Because it's not his first run-in with the law. So when you look at ranges of what he's facing, he's probably facing closer to the high end of the range than the low end. Now after he retired from football in 1993, he had a series of drug arrests in the mid-late ‘90s he had some problems with child support issues. ... So he has some history. And people that come to the table with some history face harsher penalties when and if they're found guilty and ultimately sentenced.”

A New York Daily News' columnist says the allegations fit with Taylor's attitudes.

"Reckless is a good way of describing Lawrence Taylor. In fact, that's the way he described himself both on and off the field. Now with these latest charges of rape pending against him, Taylor has taken recklessness to another level."

But the Detroit Free Press's Drew Sharp says on CNN Taylor's alleged actions are actually surprising.

"We first heard this story come out, Rick, a lot of us I think were absolutely shocked to hear this. Again, he's innocent until proven guilty. But this was a guy who seemed to have gotten his life back in order. ... He became more of a mainstream star, if you will. 'Dancing with the Stars,' he did commercials for weight loss groups."

A writer for XtraPointFootball.com compares this incident to the recent scandals involving Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger.


"...the fact that the girl involved in the incident was only [16] years old makes Taylor the clear winner or loser (depending on how you look at it) in the 'celebrity sports personality sex scandal sweepstakes.'"

So, does this set a new standard for celebrity scandals?

Writer: Kyrsten Skulborstad

Producer: Newsy Staff