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The NFL settled with Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson despite the fact that he has shown no true remorse toward the women he allegedly (or, as determined by Judge Sue L. Robinson, actually) assaulted. All but one of the women who sued Watson have settled with him, too.
The lone holdout has explained her decision to refuse to resolve the case.
“I have rejected all settlement offers, in part because they have not included any sincere acknowledgment of remorse and wrongdoings, nor have they included any promises of rehabilitative treatment,” Lauren Baxley said in an essay for TheDailyBeast.com. “Watson still refuses to admit that he harassed and committed indecent assault against me. Any settlement offer he has made has been a dismissal of his evil actions, and I know that unless there is an authoritative intervention, he will continue his destructive behavior.”
Judge Robinson found that Watson committed non-violent sexual assault. Her decision to impose a six-game suspension arose from the distinction between non-violent and violent sexual assault.
“I will say again,” Baxley wrote, “All non-consensual sexual acts are a violence, particularly when the predator far outweighs his victims in physical stature and influential power. And inherent and unspoken threats are just as damaging to the psyche as explicit threats. I will never cease my attempts to educate on this point.”
Watson is required to submit to an evaluation and treatment, before he is reinstated. It remains to be seen how either activity will have any real benefit, if he continues to insist that he is innocent. It also remains possible that the league will decide that he has failed to comply with this aspect of the agreement, resulting in an extension of his suspension.