Former NFL player Kellen Winslow II was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 years in prison for multiple sexual crimes against five women in Southern California, including the rape of an unconscious 17-year-old woman and a homeless person, according to KFMB-TV, an affiliate of CBS San Diego.
Winslow, father of two and the 37-year-old son of Kellen Winslow in the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame, was convicted on charges of forced rape, rape of an unconscious person, assault with intent to commit rape, indecent exposure and obscene conduct in public, according to The Associated Press. He must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Winslow appeared by videoconference at Wednesday’s hearing at the San Diego Superior Court in the city of Vista, north of San Diego. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman described Winslow as a “sexual predator” who committed “blatant” crimes by attacking especially vulnerable women, the AP said.
“The vulnerability of the victims was not accidental,” said Bowman. “It was the type of victim you looked for yourself because you felt that perhaps they would not report the crime” or “they would not be considered credible by the jurors.”
The judge said Winslow continued his behavior even after his first arrest, performing an obscene act near a 77-year-old woman at a gym and exposing himself to a 57-year-old neighbor while she was doing gardening, the AP reported.
Winslow was first convicted in June 2019 after being found guilty of forced rape and two other charges – indecent exposure and an obscene act in public – but jurors could not agree with the other charges, including the alleged rape of a man 54 years old in 2018 an old hitchhiker and the rape of an unconscious teenager at a party in 2003, KFMB-TV reported. On the first day of the retrial, Winslow pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault in connection with the charges in a deal that saved him from life in prison, the media said. He faces up to 18 years in prison on all charges, but one charge of sexual assault was reduced in February to his intention to commit rape.
Deputy district attorney Dan Owens said at the Winslow trial that the women did not know each other, but the incidents led to common details and similar descriptions of the suspect, according to KFMB-TV. Winslow’s lawyers claimed that the incidents were consensual or never occurred, the media said.
Winslow played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets during his career in the NFL and has won over $ 40 million in 10 seasons, AP reported. Winslow’s lawyers had previously said that he suffered a traumatic brain injury from playing football, which contributed to his behavior “getting off track”. Winslow plans to seek help, according to his lawyers.
One of the victims, the homeless man that Winslow attacked, attended the hearing on Wednesday as she and another victim watched the process by teleconference, calling him “not a good man”.
“I don’t think you know how dangerous this man is,” she can be heard saying. “Since I was raped, I haven’t looked up … I felt trapped, worried, scared. I felt I had no rights.”