Sept. 11, Sept. 22, Oct. 9, 2020: Watson books massage after seeing picture, suit says

Editor's note: This story involves allegations of sexual misconduct and contains graphic details from court filings.

Deshaun Watson asked the manager of a Houston spa where a woman worked as a licensed esthetician to see a picture of her, this woman's lawsuit said.

After Watson saw what she looked like, he wanted her to give him a massage, the spa manager told her. The woman — who offered back treatments, body scrubbing and other services at the spa — “found this to be odd and politely declined,” the suit said.

But Watson didn't give up. The suit said Watson asked the spa manger to get the woman's phone number so he could book an appointment with her himself, the suit said.

It's not clear in in the suit how he got her number, but when Watson called the woman, she agreed to schedule a massage for him at the spa on Sept. 11, 2020, the suit said.

Before he arrived, Watson texted the woman “incessantly, asking if anyone else was going to be at the spa,” the suit said. He also wanted to know if he could use the back entrance.

When Watson showed up for the massage, the woman told him she would step out of the room to give him privacy while he undressed. Watson said “he did not want her to leave the room,” the suit said.

The woman told him “she did not want to see him naked. Watson again insisted she stay,” the suit said.

The woman turned her back so she wouldn’t see Watson undress and when she turned back around, Watson was nude on a massage table, the suit said, not covered with a sheet or towel as she expected.

Watson told her he did not want to use any draping, the suit said.

The woman worried about both upsetting Watson and potentially losing business for the spa, so she moved ahead with the massage, the suit said.

Watson, laying on his stomach, told her to focus on his thigh area and buttocks. When the woman did, he “immediately started to complain,” saying she was not doing things the way he wanted, the suit said.

The woman, who was not a masseuse, continued as best she could.

When Watson flipped over onto his back, he was aroused and asked the woman “what she was going to do about his erection," the suit said.

She told him that his behavior was inappropriate, but worried about “what someone like Watson could do to her career if she caused a scene or reported his behavior,” the suit said.

The massage ended without further incident.

Watson scheduled another massage with the same woman at the spa 11 days later, on Sept 22. The woman was apprehensive but wanted to give Watson “the benefit of the doubt,” the suit said.

Watson again stripped naked in front of her and refused to cover himself with sheets or towels. “He aggressively dictated the massage and his voice became threatening,” the suit said.

The woman again told him his behavior was inappropriate and asked him to stop. He did, the suit said.

On Oct. 9, 2020, Watson booked a third appointment.

“This time he escalated his behavior,” the suit said.

During the session, Watson “tried to put his penis” in the woman’s hand and asked her to touch it. He also moved his body in a way that caused his penis to touch her hand, the suit said.

“Watson was upset that (the woman) was fully clothed in scrubs for the session…(and said) she was wearing too many clothes,” the suit said.

During the session, Watson tried to kiss the woman on the mouth and put his hands inside her pants, the lawsuit said.

“Watson was coercing her the entire time,” the suit said.

The woman “cut the session short, and Watson left abruptly,” the suit said.

In the suit, the woman said she felt “violated, terrified and disgusted.”

Watson has denied all allegations against him and said that any sexual contact was consensual.

In court papers, Watson's defense team asked why she “messaged him after his football games to check in on him and asked to massage him again.”

Moreover, the defense said in court records that a security guard at the spa said this woman was “happy and laughing after her interactions with Mr. Watson” and didn’t want any other therapist working on him.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Suit: Deshaun Watson requested woman's picture before booking massage