The Pittsburgh Steelers, via spokesperson, denied previous knowledge of the sexual assault and rape accusations against Antonio Brown in a statement to PennLive.

The New York Times and TMZ reported Tuesday night that Brown’s former trainer, Britney Taylor, had filed a civil lawsuit against Brown in federal court, accusing Brown of exposing himself and kissing her without permission in June of 2017, and later that month, masturbating and ejaculating on her back before messaging about the act.

Taylor then quit working for Brown, according to the suit. But on “approximately May 20″ of 2018 according to the suit obtained by The Times, Taylor was invited out with Brown and another player who trained with them. He had reached out apologizing and saying he would stop any sexual advances, according to the suit, but at the end of the night forced her onto a bed, into the mattress and raped her, despite her repeated shouts to stop.

When Taylor went to confront Brown and get personal items from his home, according to the lawsuit, he told her “You made me feel like a real rapist.”

Antonio Brown’s agent Drew Rosenhaus is now scheduled to appear on the noon @SportsCenter to address the sexual assault lawsuit filed yesterday against his client. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 11, 2019

The receiver attended Day 1 of Steelers organized team activities (OTAs) on May 22. Brown was a Steelers receiver from April of 2010 until March of 2018.

“The Steelers organization did not have any knowledge of the alleged incidents involving Antonio Brown prior to yesterday. If requested, the Steelers organization will cooperate in any related investigation,” team spokesman Burt Lauten said.

Brown is now a member of the New England Patriots. The Steelers traded him to the Oakland Raiders in March after he fell out with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and cut off communication with the team in the final week of the season.

In April of 2010, Roethlisberger was accused of raping a woman in Milledgville, Georgia. She twice told Roethlisberger she didn’t want to have sex before he raped her, according to police. One of Roethlisberger’s bodyguards – he had two, they were both off-duty police officers – prevented the accuser’s friends from getting to her during the incident, according to the files released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The accuser maintained her accusations as she asked the the Baldwin County (Ga.) District Attorney to drop the charges.

On March 18 of 2010, Art Rooney II told The Post-Gazette the team would let the investigation of the March 5 incident play out. Mike Tomlin told the NFL Network he was concerned for the Steelers and Roethlisberger and echoed the owner’s stance on the investigation.

Roethlisberger reached a settlement in 2012 on a July 2009 civil lawsuit accusing the quarterback of sexual assault.

From previous PennLive reporting:

"Britney Taylor, the plaintiff, states in the lawsuit that in June of 2017 Brown exposed himself and, without permission, kissed her, according to The Times. Later that month he masturbated and ejaculated on her back before texting about the act, according to the suit obtained by The Times.

“By May of 2018 she no longer worked for Brown. But after he reached out to apologize and said he would stop any sexual advances, he forced her onto a bed, into the mattress and raped her, despite her repeated shouts to stop, according to the lawsuit obtained by The Times.”

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Boston’s WEEI radio, Brown is expected to play for the Patriots on Sunday when the team travels to take on Miami at 1 p.m.

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