Deshaun Watson, a Houston Texans quarterback, has been charged with sexual or civil assault by more women, according to lawsuits filed this week in Harris County. One of the women, who claims Watson exposed her and forced her to touch her genitals during a massage, accused her of being a “serial predator.”
Over the past two weeks, 16 women, all service workers in the health and wellness industry, have said they were assaulted by Watson after he hired them for a massage during various incidents in 2020 and 2021. A lawyer de Watson has summoned the seven lawsuits filed last week “without merit” and told CBS News on Tuesday that “any allegation that Deshaun forced a woman to commit a sexual act is completely false.”
Two of the 16 women are suing Watson for sexual assault. In a lawsuit, a woman alleges that Watson, 25, forced her to have oral sex during a massage in December 2020. The woman says that after Watson “aggressively began dictating the massage and where he wanted her to the plaintiff touched her body, “she began to” forcefully tell her to lower her hand into her pubic area “before forcing her to have oral sex with him. .
The lawsuit says the victim “went off” for a few minutes out of fear during the encounter, and that she was “confused” and “terrified.”
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The other sexual assault lawsuit alleges that Watson exposed himself and asked a woman to massage his genital area during an August 2020 massage. Then, allegedly, Watson forced the woman to have oral sex with him. , wrapped his legs around her neck and told her to do more sex.
In the other lawsuits, the women allege similar experiences in which Watson was exposed, aggressively directing them to touch inappropriate areas of their body and, in some cases, touching them with their genitals. In these proceedings, Watson faces charges that include civil assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In multiple cases, Watson is accused of making threatening statements to women to prevent them from advancing. After an incident in which Watson allegedly exposed himself and touched a woman’s hand with the tip of his penis, he is accused of telling her, “I know you have a career and a reputation and I know you would hate that someone gets wrapped up in yours, just like I don’t want anyone wrapped up in mine. “
A lawyer, Tony Buzbee, represents the 16 women. Buzbee said this weekend that he planned to hand over evidence to the Houston Police Department and would ask a grand jury to review the allegations, according to CBS-affiliated KHOU.
When Buzbee announced he had filed the first of the lawsuits last week, Watson issued a statement denying that he had ever treated a woman with “nothing more than the utmost respect.”
“Plaintiff’s attorney claims it’s not about money, but before filing a lawsuit he filed a six-figure baseless lawsuit, which I quickly dismissed,” Watson said. “Unlike him, it’s not about money for me: it’s about erasing my name and I hope to do it.”
In a statement to CBS News on Tuesday, Watson’s lawyer said he believes “any accusation that Deshaun forced a woman to commit a sexual act is completely false.”
The lawyer also said he had “solid evidence” of the claim that Watson forced a woman to give him oral sex during the December massage which is “completely false.” The lawyer provided a statement from Watson’s head of marketing, stating that he spoke with a person he believes is the plaintiff in this case in January 2021.
The marketing manager alleged that the plaintiff admitted that she had a consensual meeting with Watson, but asked for $ 30,000 for “indefinite silence” about her meeting. The manager said he was not contributing the money.
The NFL is investigating the allegations. The Texans said the team will maintain “close contact” with the league and “will continue to take this and all matters related to anyone in the Houston Texans organization seriously.”