Published March 25, 2021 at Defector
There are now 16 women who have filed civil lawsuits against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson accusing him of sexual assault. Tony Buzbee, the attorney who represents all 16 women, told Houston Fox 26 on Monday that there are now 24 women (including those who filed lawsuits) who have contacted him with similar accusations against Watson.
Seven lawsuits were filed last week, seven on Monday, and two more on Tuesday. Buzbee said Sunday in an Instagram post that he planned to submit “affidavits and evidence” about the alleged sexual assault cases to Houston police on Monday. A Houston police spokesperson declined to comment on whether Buzbee actually submitted what he said he would, and referred Defector to a statement put out over the weekend that said police are “unaware of any contact between HPD and Houston attorney Tony Buzbee regarding the allegations contained in his recently filed lawsuits and no incident reports regarding these allegations have been filed in our jurisdiction.” Buzbee also said he would request a grand jury review what he was providing, although it is worth pointing out that what goes before a grand jury is up to prosecutors. Like with the police, the Harris County district attorney declined to comment.
Last week, the NFL confirmed it opened an investigation into the allegations against Watson. If Watson’s case leads to a criminal investigation, he could land on the commissioner’s exempt list, where he would be ineligible to play next season but receive full pay. If that does not happen, he’ll likely be able to play next season.
Watson has said he will fight the lawsuits and has lawyer Rusty Hardin representing him. On Tuesday, Hardin released a statement in defense of his client. “I believe that any allegation that Deshaun forced a woman to commit a sexual act is completely false,” Hardin wrote.
But if you set aside the many public statements by both sides, what remains are 16 court documents. The following details are from the information provided in the 16 civil lawsuits filed so far to the district court of Harris County, Texas. They all describe events that they say take place between March of 2020 and March of 2021, with all but two describing events in 2020. The suits all outline similar situations using very specific language, which reveal a pattern in how Watson allegedly found and assaulted these women.