Deshaun Watson continues to face an increasing amount of sexual assault lawsuits. The latest case against the NFL quarterback emerged on Thursday when a woman filed a civil lawsuit in Harris County, Texas, saying Watson pressured her into oral sex during a massage session in 2020.
According to ESPN, the latest case marks the 26th known lawsuit filed against Watson, who is facing multiple accusations of inappropriate sexual misconduct or sexual assault during massages.
The plaintiff in the most recent complaint said Watson sent her a direct message on Instagram and arranged for a massage at a hotel room in Houston in December 2020. According to the complaint, the former Houston Texans quarterback “continually pressured her into massaging his private area” before he “removed his towel” and “offered to let her ‘get on top.'”
The lawsuit adds that the plaintiff “refused to have sex with Watson. However, he was able to pressure her into oral sex.”
“Watson paid [the plaintiff] $300 for her services, although her normal charge was $115 for an hour massage,” the complaint states, adding that the woman has “suffered from severe depression and anxiety” since the alleged incident.
The woman’s lawyer, Anissah Nguyen, said her client “spent nearly two years struggling to cope with the shame and trauma from all that he has stolen from her and the daily pain that has become her reality.”
“Knowing her story will bring on the hard conversations, criticism and even victim-blaming, the strength and bravery of these other women gave my client the courage to stand up and speak out,” Nguyen told ESPN. “She seeks justice not only for herself and her own healing, but for the more than 20 women who refused to be shamed into silence, and the victims who have yet to come forward.”
Watson, who is now a member of the Cleveland Browns, is currently serving an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault on massage therapists.
The quarterback has settled 23 of the lawsuits he faced, but another previous case remains outstanding. There was also a complaint that was dropped after a judge ordered the plaintiffs to amend their petitions to disclose their names.