It would seem a major component of why this controversy sparks such debate on here (and hostility) is that it seems many posting haven't stated plainly whether they care if Brown indeed sexually assaulted someone.
With Brown potentially having sexually assaulted women, what I've been trying to determine is whether the board is (a) saying we need to have a wait and see attitude (aka no witch-hunts!) or (b) that we don't care whether he committed these acts as long as they don't impact his play (aka burn the witches!).
My read of the situation is that most posters have the wait and see attitude, with a few like myself wanting to move on from Brown (perhaps too prematurely). A few posters, however, have been operating from the "women lie about this stuff" to such an extent that it almost feels like they don't care if he committed any of these crimes as long as he is performing for the Patriots.
The final uncomfortable part of this whole thing is whether those on the board would care more about Brown's potential conduct if it was a young, middle class white woman who came forward initially with these accusations. It feels like many of the claims that she is trash, a liar, etc. have a class and racial component that gets swept under the rug.
Who knows. I just know the whole situation is unpleasant no matter how things play out.