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One of the latest sexual assault lawsuits filed against Deshaun Watson alleges that he’s been scrubbing his social media and contacting some of the women who provided him massages with an eye on reaching settlements.
Three new suits were filed Monday in Harris County District Court in Texas against the Houston Texans quarterback, raising the total number of plaintiffs to 19 women alleging sexual assault or inappropriate conduct by Watson.
“As a result of the repeated lawsuits against him, Watson is deleting Instagram messages, and contacting those who formally provided him massages in an attempt to settle,” one of the lawsuits stated.
The three latest lawsuits also accuse the 25-year-old Watson of “purposely” touching the women with his penis, while stating that the NFL star’s conduct “is part of a disturbing pattern.”
“Like a lot of people, Deshaun regularly deletes past Instagram messages. That said, he has not deleted any messages since March 15th, the day before the first lawsuit was filed,” Watson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin responded Monday in a statement emailed to The Post. “We categorically deny that he has reached out directly to his accusers in an attempt to settle these cases.
“Opposing counsel’s continued statements that these cases aren’t about money do not square with the facts in at least two of these cases. It is incredibly irresponsible to continue to make these types of false allegations in this avalanche of anonymous lawsuits, particularly while we are still trying to find out who the accusers are. We will address these issues, and others raised in these cases, in our formal response to the court in the coming weeks.”
Hardin replied to the various complaints last week that he believes “any allegation that Deshaun forced a woman to commit a sexual act is completely false” and his law firm has discovered “strong evidence” refuting at least one of the lawsuits. Watson’s side also has insisted in recent weeks that the three-time Pro Bowler was not looking to settle any of the cases.
Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents each of the unidentified plaintiffs, said in filing the latest lawsuits that the women “have not brought these cases for money or attention; instead Plaintiffs seek a change in behavior with regard to Watson, and a change of culture in the NFL.”
The situation also remains under review by the NFL in relation to the league’s personal conduct policy.
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