HOUSTON – Two of the 22 women who filed lawsuits against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, alleging sexual assault and inappropriate behavior, appeared publicly during a news conference Tuesday.
Ashley Solis, who lawyer Tony Buzbee said was the first masseuse to file a lawsuit against Watson, spoke at the press conference. Lauren Baxley wrote a letter to Watson that was read by attorney Cornelia Brandfield-Harvey.
“I started doing massages to heal people,” Solis said. “To heal their minds and their bodies. To bring peace to their souls. Deshaun Watson has stolen it from me. He took this away from me, stained a profession in which I am proud … I suffer panic attacks, “Anxiety and depression. I’m advising myself as a result of Deshaun Watson’s actions. I hope he knows how much pain he caused me emotionally and physically. And I hope he knows how much pain he has caused these other survivors.”
“People say I do it just for money,” Solis said. “That’s false. I’m running now so that Deshaun Watson doesn’t assault another woman.”
In his letter to Watson, Baxley wrote, “All the professional, therapeutic, sexual, and degrading boundaries you crossed or attempted to cross.”
Baxley said he wrote the letter on his traumatologist’s recommendation to “forgive me for not speaking before” and also “so that you may know without excuse or justification that you have brought terror to me and others irreversibly and profoundly.”
“Initially I presented myself to offer solidarity to other women, but since then I have realized that she also deserves justice,” Baxley wrote. “I hope that the courts will bring that justice and take away your power and ability to hurt more women.”
Buzbee said at the press conference that Solis and at least one other of his clients have provided statements to police.
On Friday, the Houston police department said in a statement that it began an investigation into Watson after a whistleblower filed a report.
“As with any allegation, the Houston police department is conducting an investigation and will make no further comments during the investigation process,” the department said in a statement. He did not specify what Watson is accused of in the complaint.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement Friday that he and Watson “will cooperate fully with the Houston police department.”
“We welcome this long-awaited development,” Hardin said. “We will now know the identity of at least one prosecutor. We will cooperate fully with the Houston Police Department.”
In a letter Monday to jeans season ticket holders that is regularly shipped in the spring, the McNair family addressed the civil lawsuits and a complaint filed with the Houston Police Department against Watson, saying, “We want to make sure we accept these allegations very seriously.
“While we await the conclusion of these investigations, we express our firm stance against any form of sexual assault,” the letter says. “Our family and the entire Houston Texans organization are deeply concerned about any form of abuse and we condemn this type of behavior.”