Kellen Winslow: Ex-NFL player jailed for 14 years for committing series of rapes and sexual assaults

One of his victims was a homeless woman who was attacked in 2018

Ex-NFL player Kellen Winslow II jailed for 14 years for committing series of rapes and sexual assaults (Eduardo Contreras/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, Pool)

Former NFL player Kellen Winslow II was jailed for 14 years for a string of rapes and sexual offences against five women in California.

Winslow’s victims included a homeless woman whom he attacked in 2018, a court was told.

Sentencing Winslow, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman said Winslow can only be described with “two words, and that is sexual predator.”

Winslow, 37, is the son of NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Kellen Winslow.

The judge told Winslow he had committed “brazen” crimes and that he had selected women who were vulnerable, due to their age or living situation

And the judge said that the former athlete had continued to prey on women, even after his first arrest.

Winslow performed a lewd act in front of a 77-year-old woman at a gym, while hiding his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet with a towel.

And he also exposed himself to a 57-year-old neighbour who was gardening.

“The vulnerability of the victims was no accident,” said Judge Bowman. 

“It was the type of victim that you sought out yourself because you felt that perhaps they wouldn’t report the crime” or “wouldn’t be deemed credible by the jurors”.

Winslow was convicted of forcible rape, rape of an unconscious person, assault with intent to commit rape, indecent exposure, and lewd conduct in public.

The 14-year-sentence was the maximum allowed under a plea deal.

The forcible rape of the homeless woman took place in the beach town of Encinitas, north of San Diego.

She told the court that she had felt constantly afraid since the attack and has trouble being alone.

“It’s affecting my life every day and every night,” she said via video conference from the San Diego County District Attorney’s office.

“I don’t ever feel safe inside or outside. You brought so much damage to my life.”

Winslow’s lawyer Marc Carlos told the court that his client suffered from head trauma received during his professional football career and suggested that is why he “went off the rails”.

In June 2019, as well as the rape of the homeless woman, Winslow was also convicted of indecent exposure and a lewd act in public involving two other women.

But a jury failed to convict him on other charges including the alleged rape of a 54-year-old hitchhiker in 2018, and the 2003 rape of an unconscious 17-year-old who went to party with him when he was 19.

Winslow then pleaded guilty to raping the teenager and sexual battery of the hitchhiker before prosecutors retried him.

He must also register as a sexual predator for the rest of his life.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.