Newly-signed Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown was accused of three separate incidents of sexual assault and rape in a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday.

Brown has denied the accusations and according to his lawyer, will file a countersuit.

Tuesday on "Boston Sports Tonight," Dean of Massachusetts School of Law Michael Coyne joined to provide more context for the allegations and discuss the next legal steps for Brown.

"The likelihood is that the police chose not to institute charges, likely thinking that they could not satisfy the proof in a criminal case for beyond a reasonable doubt," Coyne said. "These types of rape allegations almost always initially start with the police and law enforcement looking into it, and if they feel that there's enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, they would do so. It's very rare to actually start with the civil suit with respect to the rape allegations and I think that likely means there will not be a criminal suit for these charges.

"Oftentimes [defendants] withhold comment until they see the full extent of the evidence that's against them and then try to shape their defense and shape their case to in view of those facts. So it's unusual that [Brown's legal team] have come out very forcefully and said that yes, there was a sexual relationship but it was consensual. And that's why it makes it I think very difficult to think that at least in the immediate future there's going to be some type of significant penalty for him because a civil suit is going to likely take anywhere between 18 months to three years to resolve.

"I think there will be an investigation by the NFL and there will be, perhaps, some investigation by the Patriots as well. If you remember, Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for four games on the basis of the sexual assault allegations alone back in 2010, so it doesn't require a criminal case or even a civil case to go to judgement in order to take some sort of disciplinary action. But at the same point, it is important to let the justice process play out."

Watch the full clip below:

Brown was officially signed by the Patriots on Monday after being released by the Raiders. Both the Patriots and the NFL have yet to comment on the lawsuit.

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