Lance Armstrong is standing by his son, who is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl three years ago on the disgraced cyclist’s couch.
Armstrong posted a photo of himself with Luke Armstrong, now 21 with the caption “Head [up] [heart] full. You’re my NORTH Luke. I love you,” on Instagram Friday night.
Luke was arrested in Texas last week and charged with sexual assault of a minor.
In 2018 — when Luke was 18 — he allegedly drove the intoxicated 16-year-old to Lance’s Austin home and sexually assaulted her.
The accuser reported the incident last fall, saying the cyclist’s son had picked her up at a party where she had been drinking. She claimed she didn’t remember riding in his truck, and woke up to being assaulted on a couch.
Armstrong’s attorney denied the charges, and claimed the two were in a months-long consensual relationship.
“What occurred three years ago in high school was not a crime and was not a sexual assault. It was a consensual relationship then and continued consensually between two young people with both ultimately going their separate ways,” lawyer Randy Leavitt said.
Luke is out on bond in the case.
The college football walk-on at Rice University has not always stood by his scandal scarred father.
He told ESPN last year that he would not resort to doping to get ahead on the gridiron.
“I’ve always felt like grinding for something, and really working for a specific goal has always been so much more worth it than taking the shortcut,” Armstrong said.
“I also feel like if I ever did that and got caught, for random people, they would be like, `He’s just like his dad.’”