Deshaun Watson may not be facing criminal charges over allegations from 22 women that he improperly touched the plaintiffs, who had been hired as massage therapists and personal trainers.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin has already acknowledged that there were some “consensual encounters” between Watson and some of the 22 women who have filed lawsuits against him, but he said at no point did Watson engage in any acts that were not “mutually desired.”
“Were there sometimes consensual encounters? Yes,” Hardin said.
Watson’s name has been trending over the past few days after Major League Baseball handed down a 2-year suspension to Trevor Bauer under its domestic violence and sexual assault policy. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the suspension Friday, nearly 10 months after a California woman said two sexual encounters in April and May 2021 turned violent without her consent.
The suspension due to just allegations has the NFL under fire for not doing anything to Watson as he gets set to play for the Cleveland Browns in 2022. It should be noted that it is expected that the league will hand down a suspension, but it may fall somewhere within the 4 to 6-game area.
That is just simply not enough in the eyes of some fans.
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The 324-game suspension Bauer received from MLB on top of the 99 games he already has missed means in some sense he’s getting more than double the penalty of the previous players accused of domestic abuse.
Watson did not play in 2021, not because he was suspended, but because he had already demanded a trade from the Texans before the accusations and they decided to not have him on the field with his legal issues.
If the NFL comes out months from now and gives a small suspension, they are sure to get blasted by fans.
Barring a successful appeal, and an owner willing to not care about public backlash, we may well have seen Bauer throw his final MLB pitch.
