[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.12.1″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.12.1″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.12.1″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.1″]<\/p>\n
Boston Globe By Stephanie Ebbert, Danny McDonald and Sofia Saric [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.12.1″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.12.1″]On the day Antonio Brown was released by the Patriots, an attorney for the second woman to accuse the wide receiver of sexual misconduct said her client was gratified to learn the league was taking her allegations seriously.<\/p>\n Debra S. Katz said Friday the league acted quickly after her client filed a complaint with the NFL, after a Sports Illustrated article on Thursday detailed Brown allegedly making an unwanted sexual advance.<\/p>\n In the wake of that article, Brown allegedly sent threatening texts to the accuser that \u201cincluded things about her children that we thought were inappropriate,\u201d said Katz, who has also represented Christine Blasey Ford, the California psychologist who told a Senate committee last year that Brett Kavanaugh, now a Supreme Court justice, sexually assaulted her decades ago when they were both teenagers.<\/p>\n The league has said it is probing the texts in question. The NFL was already investigating Brown after he was accused of rape and sexual assault in a civil lawsuit filed in Florida last week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were told that the NFL spoke to the Patriots last night and that they were going to ensure that he would cease any kind of communication with our clients and essentially call off his associates who he seemed to try to get whipped up to do something with respect to our client and potentially her children,\u201d said Katz on Friday. \u201cAnd we were told that the Patriots were taking this seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n Katz\u2019s client, an artist who asked not be identified, was commissioned by Brown in 2017 to paint a mural at his Pennsylvania home. She said she was kneeling while working on the mural when she turned to find Brown standing naked before her with a small hand towel over his genitals.<\/p>\n The woman has not pursued legal action against Brown or sought any financial compensation. Yet Brown, according to texts published by Sports Illustrated, wrote to her, \u201cReally sad you would make up bull [expletive] story to the world thought you had more integrity n respect for yourself must be really hard times for [you] to make up some stuff for money.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Brown also allegedly posted a picture of the artist\u2019s children and wrote, \u201cThose her kids .\u2009.\u2009. she\u2019s awfully broke clearly.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Katz indicated her client was cooperating with the NFL probe.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this instance, the NFL acted promptly and they expressed serious concern about what happened with our client,\u201d said Katz.<\/p>\n She added, \u201cThey behaved as we would want any institution to behave and the NFL has not always done the right thing here.\u201d<\/p>\n Katz also noted that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has a reputation for dealing with \u201cdifficult personalities\u201d and making sure players follow the rules.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin days of being on the roster, he immediately takes to his text message and shows that he\u2019s not willing to focus on football,\u201d she said. \u201cInstead, he seemed to be quite eager to try to intimidate this woman.\u201d<\/p>\n Local advocates for sexual assault and domestic violence also reacted to the Patriots releasing Brown Friday.<\/p>\n Debra Robbin, executive director for Jane Doe Inc., a statewide advocacy and membership organization addressing sexual assault and domestic violence, thought either the team or the league should have suspended Brown while the civil case proceeds.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lack of action made it appear that it doesn\u2019t really matter what someone does, it matters if what they can do for the team,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Robbin said there should be a \u201cprocess that doesn\u2019t prioritize keeping players on the field as an end goal.\u201d<\/p>\n The Patriots releasing Brown \u201cdoesn\u2019t really make any statement about accountability,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can be signed by another team,\u201d she said. \u201cHe can become someone else\u2019s issue to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n Erinn Robinson, a spokeswoman for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), welcomed the news of Brown\u2019s release.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took long enough, but the Patriots made the right decision in the end to release Antonio Brown,\u201d said Robinson.<\/p>\n Gina Scaramella, executive director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, said Friday, \u201cThe days of looking the other way when it comes to sexual assault, harassment, and abuse are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n She added, \u201cIn general, one of the most important things workplaces can do is be clear about expectations for employee conduct and hold them accountable when they fall short.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, near the TD Garden Friday, Patriots fans also had thoughts on Brown\u2019s brief tenure in Foxborough.<\/p>\n Clemente Tagliaferro, of Boston, said \u201cactions do have consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t confuse skill with personal life,\u201d said Tagliaferro. \u201cYes, the Patriots looked a little bad signing him in the first place because Brown was known as a bit of a bad boy, but New England is known for giving good players second chances.\u201d<\/p>\n Another Boston resident, Sammy Gomez, said Brown was \u201ca great player but a troublemaker.\u201d She said she hasn\u2019t been following the allegations closely enough \u201cto know if him being let go from the team is fair.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Patriots are the most loved team and the most hated team, so they\u2019ll always have controversy,\u201d said Gomez.<\/p>\n Dorchester resident Patrick Sullivan said New England always does \u201cwhat\u2019s right for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Patriots did the right thing letting Brown go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n URL: https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/metro\/2019\/09\/20\/attorney-for-brown-accuser-the-nfl-acted-promptly\/koWXI7NbujcdISYzIesRsK\/story.html?outputType=amp[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Debra Robbin, executive director for Jane Doe Inc., a statewide advocacy and membership organization addressing sexual assault and domestic violence, explains why we think either the team or the league should have suspended Brown while the civil case proceeds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-coverage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janedoe.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
September 23, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n