Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson speaks to the media, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, in Berea, Ohio, after the team announced that Watson has reached a settlement with the NFL and will serve an 11-game unpaid suspension and pay a $5 million fine rather than risk missing his first season as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns following accusations of sexual assault while he played for the Houston Texans.

Deshaun Watson and the NFL agreed to an 11-game suspension and $5 million fine Thursday after 24 massage therapists filed civil suits accusing him of sexual assault in sessions with them while he was with the Houston Texans. Twenty-three of those 24 civil suits have been settled with undisclosed agreements, but there's one case still pending, and the woman behind that suit spoke out Friday in the form of an essay for The Daily Beast.

"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 wrote. "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."

The Houston Chronicle typically does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault or harassment. Baxley has publicly identified herself.

Watson has denied the allegations against him and stuck to that talking point even after agreeing to the 11-game suspension.

"I've always been able to stand on my innocence and always said I never assaulted or disrespected anyone. But at the same point, I have to continue to push forward with my life and career," Watson told reporters at Browns training camp Thursday.

After the NFL's investigation, an independent arbitrator noted that Watson's behavior was "more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL," but also called the incidents "non-violent sexual conduct." In Baxley’s case, the licensed sports massage therapist said Watson asked her for a massage in June 2020 and the two met for an appointment at a Houston spa. There, Baxley alleges, Watson repeatedly exposed himself and touched her hand with his penis

"I will say again: All non-consensual sexual acts are a violence, particularly when the predator far outweighs his victims in physical stature and influential power," Baxley wrote for The Daily Beast. "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."

Matt Young is a trending sports reporter at the Houston Chronicle.

Matt has been a sports editor/writer at the Chronicle since 2015. He's proudly from Alief and occasionally sits alone in his four-cornered room staring at candles. Reach him at matt.young@chron.com.