The ASSOCIATED PRESS and ESPN report Wednesday:

Pro football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor has been indicted by a suburban New York grand jury on charges of rape, criminal sexual act and sexual abuse.

The indictment Wednesday comes after his May 6 arrest at a Holiday Inn. Prosecutors say he paid a 16-year-old girl $300 to have sex with him.

The former New York Giant was also indicted on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and patronizing a prostitute.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for tomorrow in the case, which will now be canceled. Taylor will next be required to enter a plea, though the Rockland County District Attorney’s office is reportedly, “having trouble getting in touch with Taylor’s attorney.”

Taylor’s lead attorney Arthur Aidala is involved in another case currently on trial. Read more…

The NEW YORK POST reports today that the protective custody unit at the Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome, N.Y., has facilitated a friendship between Plaxico Burress and Lillo Brancato, Robert De Niro’s co-star in the 1993 feature film, “A Bronx Tale.”

New York City nightclub promoter and Brancato friend Noel Ashman told the Post, “They are buds. They work out together.”

Who knew celebs hung out in the VIP in state prison?

While Burress, who is serving two years for gun possession, is scheduled for release in early 2011, Brancato isn’t nearly so fortunate. Read more…

The NEW YORK POST reports Sunday that Lawrence Taylor has been involved in five domestic disputes with his latest two wives since 2002. The summary includes police being called to the Taylor home in Florida as recently as two months ago.

Taylor married his third wife, Lynette Gordon, in July 2007, but they were feuding months before the nuptials. Police responded to a domestic disturbance at Taylor’s home in Pembroke Pines, Fla., on April 7, 2007. The couple told police they were just arguing.

Cops returned to Taylor’s home on Dec. 28, 2008. This time the two were married and fighting over houseguests, according to a report. Another dispute erupted this past March 4. The police report said Taylor had a spat with his wife over “a family matter.”

Taylor was involved in two more domestic disturbances with former wife Maritza Cruz, disturbances which involved alleged physical abuse. Read more…

Last night Lynette Taylor was booked to appear on CNN’s Larry King Live but backed out at the last moment. Perhaps now we know why.

Since her CNN cancellation, Taylor has provided a photo of her and the ex-NFL star together to The Insider while offering comments on her husband’s pending rape and prostitution charges.

On the allegations against Taylor: “I have no idea what he was doing with a teenager. We’re talking about reports, not what we know as facts. I don’t know if he was with a teenager. Lawrence is 51 years old. Why would a teenage girl be soliciting sex from a 51-year-old man?”

Yesterday Mrs. Taylor told TMZ.com that she thought her husband was “set up.“ She reported to The Insider that apparently the same thought has crossed Lawrence Taylor’s mind. Read more…

In a press release today, weight loss company Nutrisystem announced it was dropping Lawrence Taylor as an endorser for the company.

We are shocked and saddened by these very serious allegations against Lawrence Taylor. Based on the severity of these allegations, Nutrisystem has made the decision to sever our relationship with Mr. Taylor effective immediately.”

Taylor, who was charged with third degree rape and soliciting a prostitute on Thursday, has been removed from the company’s website, where he was previously featured in the “success stories” area of the site.

Taylor originally signed on with Nutrisystem in March 2009, when he was preparing for the Dancing With The Stars reality show. Read more…

Lawrence Taylor is a free man tonight after posting $75,000 bond following a night in the Ramapo (NY) town jail on charges of third degree rape of a 16-year-old girl and patronizing a prostitute.

Taylor’s attorney Arthur Aidala said Thursday, “Lawrence Taylor didn’t have consensual sex with anyone last night. He didn’t have sex with anyone. Mr. Taylor is going to fight each and every one of these charges.” Taylor has yet to enter an official plea in the case.

Ramapo Police Chief Peter Brower would not comment today on whether Taylor knew the age of the 16-year-old alleged victim, though he said, “Ignorance is not an excuse to an individual’s age. ”

Despite the fact that Taylor, through his attorney, claimed today that he “didn’t have sex with anyone” on the night in question, forensic evidence gathered by Ramapo police at the hotel room where the alleged victim met Taylor may suggest otherwise. Read more…

Lawrence Taylor was arrested overnight at a Holiday Inn in Suffern, NY., today and charged with the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl.

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence told LoHud.com, “the victim apparently was a runaway from the Bronx who was brought by a pimp to the Holiday Inn where Taylor was staying.”

More:

The girl got beaten up at the hotel, authorities said, and later needed treatment at a hospital.

“She was a runaway since March and there was a pimp involved,” St. Lawrence said. “She got punched in the face. We’re not sure who did it.”

The police got involved after the girl texted her uncle as the pimp drove her down to the Bronx, St. Lawrence said. The uncle called the New York City Police Department and officers met the pimp’s car in the city, St. Lawrence said.

The police took statements from the girl, arrested the pimp and called the Ramapo Police Department, who sent officers to the hotel to investigate.

The third degree rape charge against Taylor is Class E Felony. If convicted of the violent crime charge, he could face a minimum of three years in prison and a max of four years.

Excerpt from the New York penal code: Read more…

UPDATE (6:47 am PT): MIAMI HERALD has a confusing account of the Taylor arrest. Did he hit another car and try to drive off in a car missing one wheel? Not clear. Jump in the comments if you can figure it out.

Lawrence Taylor arrested? And here I thought that the first contestant on “Dancing With The Stars” to be hauled to jail this year was surely going to be Donnie Osmond. At least the booking went smoothly; LT surely knows the procedure.

There aren’t a lot of details, but TMZ was the first to report that Taylor was arrested at 9:57 p.m. on Sunday in Dade County, Florida, for leaving the scene of an accident, in which there was also property damage. I’ll leave you to examine his mug shot and ponder what was going on.

But more potentially damaging than any of that is the following graph from the TMZ report: Read more…

There’s been plenty of talk lately about the NFL doing more to protect officials who find themselves in harm’s way during games.

(Key to the whole thing is the hat flying off)

Strapping helmets on may help, but what about those pesky white lines?

Video after the jump. Read more…