Infractions Involving Sexual Assault Will Carry Harsher Punishments From The NFL
The description of sexual assault offenses included in the NFL’s updated personal conduct code has been expanded, with the potential for harsher punishment.
The description of sexual assault offenses included in the NFL's updated personal conduct code has been expanded, with the potential for harsher punishment.
The description of sexual assault offenses included in the NFL‘s updated personal conduct code has been expanded, with the potential for harsher punishment.
The policy, which The Associated Press obtained on Tuesday, states that a first offense of sexual assault “involving physical force or committed against someone incapable of giving consent or involving threats or coercion” will result in a suspension of six games without pay “with possible upward or downward adjustments based on any aggravating or mitigating factors.”
Nothing in this clause prevents the Disciplinary Officer or Commissioner from issuing a suspension without pay of six games or more, including an indefinite ban, for other forms of forbidden behavior. The guideline specifies that membership in the NFL will be terminated for a second infraction.
One year after Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns was given an 11-game suspension for violating the personal conduct policy after being accused of sexual assault and other inappropriate behavior during massage therapy sessions by more than two dozen women, the phrase “involving threats or coercion” has now been added, along with the expansion of “offences that involve planning” and “a pattern of conduct” as potential aggravating factors.
A disciplinary officer who first cited restrictions in the league’s rulebook gave Watson a six-game suspension. A minimum one-year penalty was what the NFL demanded. The company appealed the decision, and a deal was made.
