Two more women accused Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct, alleging in separate lawsuits that he exposed himself and made inappropriate requests during massage sessions last year.
A total of 21 women have now filed suits against the football player.
The two new lawsuits were filed Tuesday in Houston. The women, identified in the court documents as “Jane Doe,” both work as massage therapists who advertise their services on social media.
One of the women, who lives in Kansas, said that Watson contacted her on the Snapchat social media platform in July 2020 and scheduled a session at a private suite at The Houstonian hotel in Texas. The woman did not have her massage therapy license, but used social media to build her business and clientele, the suit states.
According to the lawsuit, Watson got completely naked during the first session, ignored the woman’s requests that he cover up and demanded that she “massage the area immediately around his anus.” The woman said she refused the alleged demand.
After scheduling a second session, Watson allegedly told the woman she could show up wearing only a sports bra and short shorts. She declined and arrived at The Houstonian “professionally clothed,” the lawsuit states. During the session, he allegedly demanded that she massage his groin area and touched her hand with his penis, according to the lawsuit.
Watson and the woman had two more sessions, during which he continued to act inappropriately. In one instance, he allegedly rubbed the woman’s butt and leg and ejaculated in front of her, the suit states.
During the last session, he allegedly coerced her into performing oral sex.
The woman said she did not stop working for Watson sooner because she did not want to risk a high-profile athlete giving her a bad review. Watson, 25, knew the woman was a single mother with financial troubles and used that information “to his advantage in an effort to manipulate her,” according to the lawsuit.
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The second woman, who has a massage business in Scottsdale, Arizona, said in her lawsuit that Watson contacted her in July 2020 for a Swedish massage. When the athlete arrived at her business, he told her to focus on his glutes, the lawsuit states.
Having worked with other athletes, the woman complied because it was not unusual for someone to have pain in their glutes due to the sciatic nerve. During the session, Watson allegedly made a sexual request but the woman refused.
“When Plaintiff responded no again, defendant Watson realized that Plaintiff was not going to entertain his sexual advances, and stated that the massage was done,” the lawsuit states.
The suits were filed by lawyer Anthony Buzbee, who is also representing the other women.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, on Wednesday released statements from 18 massage therapists who said they worked for Watson and never “experienced any of the behavior alleged by anonymous plaintiffs.”
“Collectively, they have worked with Deshaun more than 130 times over the past five years,” Hardin said. “These statements show the other side to this story that has been so lacking in the flurry of anonymous complaints filed by opposing counsel.”
All of the therapists said Watson was polite during the sessions and did not act inappropriately.
“Some of these accusations are so ludicrous. I just can’t see him doing any of those things. He was never inappropriate with me. I never felt threatened in any way,” one therapist, Myah Roberson, said.
Another, Masako Jones, said: “I have worked with Deshaun several times since October 2019 and he’s never been anything other than professional and polite.”
Hardin previously accused Buzbee of orchestrating a “circus-like atmosphere” in an effort to “inflame the public and malign Deshaun’s otherwise sterling reputation.”
In a lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday, Buzbee said: “We will continue to conform our conduct to the ethical rules for lawyers in Texas. We take our obligations very seriously. We will say this once, and encourage those inquiring to pay attention to our public filings, rather than lawyer statements in the media.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
