Two women suing Deshaun Watson for alleged sexual misconduct come forward with statements
The first woman to file a sexual misconduct lawsuit against Deshaun Watson came forward Tuesday to tell her story publicly and said the NFL quarterback assaulted and harassed her March 30, 2020, in her home.
Ashley Solis, a licensed massage therapist, was the first Watson accuser to reveal her identity among the 22 who have filed lawsuits against the Texans QB since March 16. After she read her statement in front of TV cameras, one of her attorneys also revealed the name of a second woman who made similar allegations in a lawsuit – Lauren Baxley, who was identified as another therapist.
“I am a survivor of assault and harassment,” Solis said from the office of her attorney in Houston. “Deshaun Watson is my assaulter and my harasser. Deshaun Watson assaulted and harassed me on March 30th, 2020, in my own home doing what I felt was massage therapy. I am a licensed massage therapist. Now that the profession that I love so much has been forever tainted, I am deeply saddened but not surprised to see so many victim-blaming in the press and by online commenters.
“And they have absolutely no idea what I’m going through or what happened to me. No idea. This incident has affected me in many ways, and those ways are hard to describe. They are a range of emotions: guilt, embarrassment, shame, courage, anger, sadness and numbness. Some days I feel like a hero. Other days I feel like a failure.”
Like Solis, Baxley said in a letter read by her attorney that Watson reached out to her through Instagram to obtain her services. Baxley did not appear in front of cameras. Both are among 22 plaintiffs who have accused him sexual misconduct, including two who accuse him of sexual assault.
said a report was filed against Watson and that it was investigating. Buzbee said the report was not from Solis but another client.
“We welcome this long overdue development,” Hardin said in a statement Friday. “Now we will learn the identity of at least one accuser. We will fully cooperate with the Houston Police Department.”
Hardin previously noted the lack of evidence submitted to police in these cases and said it was because Buzbee’s “parade of anonymous allegations could not survive the rigorous inquiry of trained investigators or the need to attest to the truth of the allegations under oath.”
Hardin also released a list of 18 named therapists who said Watson “never made them feel uncomfortable or demanded anything outside the scope of a professional massage.”
Even if Watson is never charged with a crime, the NFL could suspend him for violations of its personal conduct policy, depending on the findings of its own investigation.
“The allegations are deeply disturbing and we take these issues very seriously,” the NFL said in a statement. “Immediately following news of the first allegations last month, and as has been reported, we initiated an investigation under the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy. We are continuing to closely monitor all developments in the matter.”
In the case of Solis, settlement discussions appeared to end in February, after Gaffield rejected the demand. Buzbee then sent his own e-mail to Gaffield, according to the release from Hardin’s firm Tuesday.
“We made a legit demand. You rejected it,” Buzbee wrote Feb. 19, according to the release. ” We won’t be making another or bid against ourselves. We also won’t be having an extended dialogue about why you think your client did nothing wrong or how you want this to be a `learning’ experience for your `high profile athlete,’ as you refer to him. This is Houston, Texas. Perhaps you should find him a lawyer here so you can apprise both you and your client of the landscape here and who you are dealing with. Talk soon.”
Contributing: Tom Schad
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com