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Taylor: I Didn't Pick Up Underage Prostitute On 'Playground'

NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- Defiant ex-Giants great Lawrence Taylor, hours after receiving six years' probation for sexual misconduct and having sex with an underage prostitute on Tuesday, told Fox News' Shepard Smith the girl "wasn't hiding behind no school bus."

Taylor was arrested last year after the girl's uncle contacted New York City police. The ex-athlete was originally charged with third-degree rape.

"I didn't go pick her up on no playground," Taylor told Smith.

Taylor said that the girl told him she was 19. She was 16 — under the age of consent — when she met Taylor last May.

"This was a working girl who came into my room. She told me she was 19. It is what it is," said Taylor. "I don't card them. I don't ask them for a birth certificate."

 

Taylor admitted having intercourse with the girl, who turned out to be a Bronx runaway. He said he paid her $300.

"I made a phone call to a friend and he made a phone call," Taylor said. "It's the world of prostitution. You never know what you're going to get."

The former linebacker must register as a sex offender, but a hearing on exactly how that will affect him was postponed to April 12. Taylor told Fox News that he has solicited prostitutes in the past.

"I have used the services before. It's one of those crimes you never think you're going to get busted," Taylor said. "I don't have to worry about your feelings. It's all clean. I'm not saying it's right, but it's the oldest profession in the world."

LISTEN: Boomer & Carton dissect Taylor's Fox News interview, compare ex-linebacker to Charlie Sheen

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The girl, now 17, has been identified in court only by the initials C.F. She said on Tuesday that Taylor "should be in the hall of shame, not the Hall of Fame."

"I believe Mr. Taylor could see my face and how young I was," she said. "I did what he told me to do because I was afraid what would happen if I didn't."

She added, her voice breaking, "I am upset that he will not go to jail for what he did to me."

Did you catch LT's interview? Sound off about it in the comments below...

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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