Houston police have issued a statement regarding allegations of sexual assault against Texans star Deshaun Watson.
The Houston Police Department on Friday night said it had not had any contact with the lawyer who is representing the seven women who had filed civil lawsuits against Watson by Friday afternoon, nor was there any report of such allegations in its jurisdiction.
"At this time, HPD is unaware of any contact between HPD and Houston attorney Tony Buzbee regarding the allegations contained in his recently filed lawsuits and no incident reports regarding these allegations have been filed in our jurisdiction," the statement said.
The tweet seemed to come in response to the accusers' attorney, Tony Buzbee, a prominent local lawyer and former Houston mayoral candidate, who claimed during a Friday afternoon news conference that police had contacted him regarding the allegations, and that he was preparing some kind of briefing "packet" for them.
The accusations were brought to light for the first time this week in the series of explosive civil lawsuits, with Buzbee providing several updates on social media, including copies of court filings, and correspondence from NFL investigators informing him that they would be looking into the case.
Watson issued a vehement denial in response to the first case, and suggested Buzbee had approached him with a six-figure settlement offer before filing the lawsuits. He has been silent since, and has retained high-profile Houston attorney Rusty Hardin for legal counsel.
Hardin in a statement said the accusations were "meritless."
On Friday, Watson's agent, David Mulugheta, posted a tweet suggesting the accusers were pursuing payoffs, and called for the prosecution of those who "fabricate stories" for financial gain.
Buzbee at his press conference said he had filed lawsuits on behalf of seven women now accusing Watson of sexual assault or otherwise unwelcome sexual contact and harassment.
Five more lawsuits were coming "in due time," he said, and as many as 10 other women had contacted him, the lawyer claimed, bringing the potential total accusers to as many as 22.
In the lawsuits, several of the female massage therapists claim they were contacted by Watson through social media. Buzbee released redacted screen shots of text and DM exchanges, including one that he said shows Watson apologizing to one of the therapists.
Watson, while silent since his tweet, reportedly claims he was merely using his social media accounts to contact masseuses because his usual massage therapists were unavailable due to coronavirus, according to "multiple sources connected to" the 25-year-old Watson, TMZ reported early Saturday.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram