Milwaukee attorney charged with sexual assault
A Milwaukee defense attorney who once had his law license revoked has been charged with sexual assault after a woman told authorities he raped her.
Robert L. Taylor, 76, faces one count of second-degree sexual assault with a domestic violence modifier. He remained in custody Saturday at the Milwaukee County Jail on $50,000 bail.
According to the criminal complaint:
On Dec. 11, a woman called 911 and asked to be taken to the hospital for a migraine. A male voice was heard on the phone saying “Are you sure?” before identifying himself as “Attorney Robert Taylor.”
Taylor told the 911 operator the woman had problems with migraines and mild stroke symptoms but added, “she’s fine.”
Taylor then told the operator that “she doesn’t want to go to the hospital. … I don’t know why she’s calling you.”
When the operator asked the woman if she wanted medical help, the woman replied yes. After the Milwaukee Fire Department arrived and the woman was separated from Taylor, she asked the first responders to take her to the hospital.
At the hospital, she disclosed she had been sexually abused by Taylor and medical staff found she had injuries consistent with an assault.
She told a police officer she and Taylor had gone to visit his property out of state and on the way back to Wisconsin, he raped her at a hotel. When they returned to Taylor’s apartment in Milwaukee, the woman said he threatened to kill her and raped her again.
The two-page charging document does not specify when or how the woman first met Taylor.
The complaint states the document “does not exhaust all the information the state is aware of regarding the months leading up to this assault” and prosecutors reserve the right to add additional charges.
Taylor, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1979, has had several run-ins with the law, according to arrest reports and state documents.
His license was suspended in 1986 after a federal criminal theft conviction for conspiracy to defraud clients by misapplying funds and embezzlement from a federal credit union, according to the Office of Lawyer Regulation.
His license was revoked in 1987.
The revocation was also the result of Taylor’s representation of three clients in 1985, while his license was suspended for not completing continuing legal education requirements, according to the OLR. State regulators also investigated Taylor for overcharging clients and not returning unearned fees.
Taylor petitioned the state to have his license reinstated in 2003, but was denied. It was reinstated in 2006.
Where to find help
The City of Milwaukee Health Department has resources for sexual assault survivors here.
Advocate Aurora Health's Healing and Advocacy Services for sexual assault survivors includes a 24-hour hotline at (414) 219-5555 and a confidential text line at (414) 219-1551.
The Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee operates a 24-hour confidential hotline at (414) 933-2722 and offers assistance with e-filing for restraining orders at (414) 278-5079.
The Milwaukee Women's Center also offers a hotline at (414) 671-6140.
The Asha Project, which serves African American women in Milwaukee, provides a crisis line from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at (414) 252-0075.
Correction: An earlier version of this article identified the attorney by his middle name instead of last name in one sentence.
Cary Spivak and Corri Hess of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee attorney Robert Taylor charged with sexual assault
