Content warning: This article contains depictions of alleged sexual assault.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson spoke to the media Wednesday, shortly after his attorney, Rusty Hardin, released a statement regarding the newest allegation of sexual assault against his client.
“Deshaun strongly denies the allegations in the Jane Doe lawsuit filed Monday,” Hardin wrote in a statement emailed to Cleveland.com. “We have asked him not to comment further while this matter works its way through the courts, but are comfortable he will ultimately be vindicated.
“We will be ready to defend this case in court at the appropriate time, but don’t intend to conduct our defense in the media. We would ask that people be patient while the legal process runs its course. In the meantime, Deshaun is going to focus his energy and concentration on football.”
Watson himself backed that up when he was asked about it during his regular media availability on Wednesday.
Watson also said he was unaware of the allegations until the civil lawsuit was filed Monday.
In the civil lawsuit filed Monday, Watson is accused of sexual assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress by Jane Doe, a single mother who met Watson in Oct. 2020. They met at her apartment prior to a dinner date, and Doe alleges that after she finished getting ready, she found Watson naked on her bed, lying face down on his stomach.
Watson allegedly tried to get Doe to give him a thigh and groin massage, which she resisted, instead rubbing his back. After the second time he tried and she resisted, Watson then allegedly “partially disrobed Jane Doe and penetrated her vagina without consent, implicit or explicit,” which lasted for several minutes.
Tony Buzbee, the attorney for Jane Doe and for the group of women who sued Watson for sexual misconduct during massage sessions, released a statement about the new complaint against Watson.
No criminal charges have been filed against Watson related to this incident. The NFL has opened up an investigation to see if these new allegations, which are more serious than the previous 24 incidents the NFL punished him for, are enough to warrant additional discipline.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday that nothing has changed regarding his on-field plans for Watson, who will start against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
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