A court filing alleges former Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard sent a sexually explicit photo of a woman to her underage son “for the purpose of manipulation and/or revenge.”
The motion, filed Thursday in Broward (Fla.) Circuit Court, seeks to add the boy to a woman’s lawsuit who alleged, in a separate incident, that Howard recorded and distributed sexual videos involving the two of them to a third party without her consent.
According to the court documents, Howard was sexually involved with the boy’s mother. After the boy’s mother became pregnant, Howard demanded that she have an abortion, the lawsuit alleges. When she refused, Howard texted a sexually explicit photo of the two of them to the boy in September 2022, according to the filing.
The boy, referred to as “John Doe” in the filing, was a minor when he received the photo, but is now of the age of majority, per the suit. His mother deleted the photo from his phone, but he accessed it via his iCloud account, according to the lawsuit.
The new allegation follows a lawsuit filed by a woman on May 23, 2023, named “Jane Doe,” in court documents. The motion Thursday asks for the boy to be added to the lawsuit because his claims “allege a similar pattern of conduct.” The woman who filed the initial lawsuit and the boy are not related, per court documents.
“Mr. Howard denies the claims and looks forward to prevailing in a court of law,” said GrayRobinson lawyer Ted Craig on behalf of Howard.
Howard and the woman (Jane Doe) began a sexual relationship in 2022, which ended in July 2022, per the lawsuit. Around Sept. 25, 2022, the woman allegedly received sexually explicit videos from another woman via Instagram, which showed her having sexual intercourse with Howard, per the complaint.
The woman’s attorneys submitted a cease and desist letter to Howard in October 2022. In April 2023, after the cease and desist letter was sent, the woman received “sexually explicit photos and videos of nude women” from a woman that Howard had recently sent to her, per the complaint. Jane Doe was in one of the photos, according to the lawsuit, taken and distributed without “her knowledge or consent.”
Both Jane Doe and John Doe are seeking judgments for damages in excess of $50,000 for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Additionally, Jane Doe is suing Howard for intrusion of privacy and sexual harassment and has also asked for an injunction to ensure that Howard does not disseminate any more videos or photos that were taken without her consent.
Howard, 30, was a second-round pick of the Dolphins in 2016. He spent eight seasons with the Dolphins, before the team released Howard in March. He is currently a free agent. A four-time Pro Bowler, Howard had 45 tackles and one interception in 2023.
(Photo: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)