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Deshaun Watson has been dealing with legal allegations of sexual misconduct for more than two full calendar years now. The first lawsuit accusing him of such behavior was filed in March 2021 and eventualy grew into 25 total women coming forward to sue him. While 23 of those cases have been settled, two still remain open in civil court.
Watson will not be facing any criminal charges for the accusations after two grand juries decided not to indict him due to an apparent lack of sufficient evidence. One of the open civil cases in Harris County District Court recently took another twist. The lawsuit filed against Deshaun Watson was updated on June 22 to add the Houston Texans as another defendant in the cvil case.
According to FOX, here's what the new addition to the lawsuit states:
“Defendant Houston NFL Holdings, L.P. is a Delaware limited partnership, doing business under the trade name Houston Texans in the state of Texas with its principal place of business in Harris County, Texas.
"Not only did the Texans facilitate Watson’s actions, but they also removed a potentially explosive Instagram post about such conduct. The Texans knew, or should have known, about Watson’s conduct.”
The Houston Texans are basically being accused of allowing Deshaun Watson to get away with his alleged inappropriate behavior, as well as playing a part in attempting to hide the story from going public. They are unlikely to face any criminal charges at this point, but that could potentially change if new details emerge about the recent development in the ongoing case.
What penalties did Deshaun Watson face from the NFL for his alleged sexual misconduct?
In a world where everyone is supposed to be "innocent until proven guilty," Deshaun Watson would potentially be facing no punishments. Not only was he never found guilty of the accusations, two grand juries determined there wasn't even enough evidence to move forward with a trial, let alone look for a guilty verdict. While he cleared the criminal system, the NFL doesn't work that way.
Per the league's personal conduct policy, the NFL has the right to issue punishments to players accused of things, even if they aren't found legally guilty of them. Most still assume that Watson surely did something wrong, especially considering the alarming volume of allegations against him, but the real extent of it will likely never be known for certain.
After long consideration and debate, the NFL eventually settled on issuing Deshaun Watson a suspension for the first 11 games of the 2022 NFL season as well as a $5 million fine. The quarterback has settled his punishment and is expected to be a full participant for the Cleveland Browns in the 2023 NFL season.
