NFL Hall Of Famer and noted ephebophile Lawrence Taylor was designated Level 1 sex offender status after a Florida court heard arguments earlier this week. You’ll remember that Taylor received six years probation for soliciting an underaged prostitute last month.
As noted by Amber Jones on my podcast this week, the Level 1 designation will mean that Taylor’s name or photograph will not appear in an online database. Yes, sex offender registries have tiers now. Just like Game Of Death.
There are three levels of sex offenders: Level 1 offenders are characterized as being a low risk to the public, Level 2 are medium risk and Level 3 are high risk. People registered as the latter two have their names made available to the public, and authorities can go so far as to alert “vulnerable populations,” such as those at a school, nursing home or day care agency, that an offender is living in their neighborhood.
Level 1 offenders must register for 20 years, while the other two levels of offenders must register for the rest of their lives.
So if his name isn’t going to be posted online, and if even the judge doesn’t think he’s a threat to public safety, then why is his name on a list at all? I thought the whole point of a sex offender registry was to protect children from predatory criminals, not for shaming burnout celebrities that have to pay to get laid. Probation should be enough for Taylor; his name doesn’t belong with the deranged miscreants for whom such a registry was originally designed.
This is not Elton John circa 1988. Actually, this guy is Eric Tillman; he’s the general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and he’s being charged with the sexual assault of a 16-year-old. The encounter allegedly occurred in Regina, which the way they pronounce it, rhymes with “vagina,” and really, where else would you sexually assault a girl? You know, besides her butt.
