Sports

Kellen Winslow II, Former NFL Player, Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Rapes and Assaults

According to the Associated Press, Kellen Winslow II, former NFL tight end, was sentenced to 14 […]

According to the Associated Press, Kellen Winslow II, former NFL tight end, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for multiple rapes and other sexual offenses against five women in Southern California. One of the women Winslow attacked in 2018 was homeless. Winslow appeared at a hearing via videoconference in San Diego Superior Court and declined to comment before his sentence.

San Diego Superior County Judge Blaine Bowman said Winslow is “two words, and that is a sexual predator.” Bowman went on to say that Winslow selected five women who were vulnerable because of their age and living situation. He was convicted of rape, rape of an unconscious person, assault with intent to commit rape, indecent exposure, and lewd conduct in public. The 14-year prison sentence entered was the maximum allowed under the plea deal that was made in February.

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Winslow’s lawyer, Marc Carlos, said that the 37-year-old suffered head trauma due to the many blows in the head while playing football. He suggested that is why Winslow “went off the rails” and intends to get help. Winslow was also convicted of two misdemeanors – indecent exposure and a lewd act in public – involving two additional women.

Winslow is a father of two, and his wife filed for divorce once he was convicted. He could have been convicted of two additional rape charges, which would have led to him facing 18 years in prison. Winslow originally pleaded guilty in November, which came before he was about to be retried on six felony charges.

“Each of these victims, they didn’t try to come out here in order to try to frame Mr. Winslow,” prosecutor Dan Owens said in November. “The fact that they had that courage to come forward and speak with law enforcement and to testify to all the things that he had done while facing all these cameras, I think it was important to me to make sure that that truth was heard, and it was important to me to make sure that he was held accountable for each one of those crimes.”

The Cleveland Browns drafted Winslow in the first round in 2004 after having a standout career at Miami. He played for the Browns for five seasons before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009. Winslow also spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, and New York Jets before his career ended after the 2013 season. Winslow is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow.