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Seminole player stays on all-star roster despite felony charge

By Bob Putnam, Times Staff Writer
In print: Saturday, May 31, 2008

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A Seminole High baseball player will play in Sunday's Pinellas vs. Hillsborough all-star game at Tropicana Field despite facing a felony charge of having sex with a minor.

Jay Anthony Taylor, 18, was arrested May 21 at school on a charge of lewd and lascivious battery on a child, a second-degree felony punishable by as long as 15 years in prison. Taylor was released the same day after posting a $20,000 bond. A court date has not been set.

The incident occurred May 13 when an Indian Shores police officer said he saw Taylor having sex with a 15-year-old girl in Taylor's 2003 Ford truck.

Taylor was selected for the all-star game in March. St. Petersburg coach Stefan Futch, who will coach the Pinellas team, said Taylor, a senior, is allowed to play because he has not been suspended from school.

Under School Board policy, a principal can suspend a student who has been charged by the State Attorney's Office with violent conduct if the principal decides the incident has an "adverse impact on the educational program, discipline or welfare of the school."

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office has not assigned a prosecutor to the case.

Taylor has signed to play baseball with USF, which had no comment on the situation.

Futch said Taylor most likely will not play in the field Sunday and will be used as a pinch-hitter for one inning.

Repeated attempts to contact Taylor and Seminole principal Walter Weller were unsuccessful.