By Tony Mangia
Former New York Giants football great Lawrence Taylor is once again dancing with the bars. On Friday, the ex-grid star was a no-show in a New Jersey court where he is trying to reduce his monthly support payments to his sick out-of-wedlock daughter.
Taylor--who is already awaiting trial for allegedly having sex with a 16 year-old prostitute in a Holiday Inn--emailed the judge a last minute doctor's note blaming a medical condition prohibited him from flying into New Jersey for the mandatory hearing. The "condition" has not been made public.
This excuse apparently didn't fly too well with Judge Peter J. Melchionne. "Why shouldn't I issue a bench warrant?" the angry judge scolded Taylor's lawyer, James Keys. The judge warned Keys that he was ready to sack Taylor with a warrant if he missed another court date.
While LT was willing to blow $300 for an hour with the alleged prostitute last May, the troubled Taylor wants to slash as much as $500 off the estimated $1825-per-month payments to his daughter Erielle. The 12 year-old lives with her mother, Ebony Washington, and suffers from Crohn's disease. The chronic intestinal illness was diagnosed earlier this year. Taylor has never publicly acknowledged Erielle. She is one of seven children Taylor has fathered with a number of different women according to court papers.
Taylor made the motion after Washington filed in Bergen County family court to increase her support deal. Washington says part of the extra money will go towards Erielle's medical bills.
Erielle's mother claims Taylor, who lives in Florida, misses more than court dates. She said Erielle rarely sees her father. "He promises to visit her when he's in the area, but he's never shown up, not once," vented the mother. She claims her only contact is via text messages or through his lawyer.
Washington also said Taylor had promised to increase support payments when his other children grew up and he was financially more stable. Melchionne ordered both sides to show financial statements next month and set a February trial. Taylor has already been accused by the judge of reducing amounts on checks in bank statements previously turned over to Washington's lawyer.
The "Dancing with the Stars" contestant will be waltzing in and out of a lot of courthouses in the next few months. Taylor is looking at up to five years in prison and sex offender registration if he is convicted on felony 3rd degree statutory rape and 3rd degree patronization involving the Holiday Inn arrest. He plead not-guilty in July.
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