While a San Diego jury convicted former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman, they couldn’t, however, agree on the other eight counts against him Tuesday (June 11.)
Winslow’s legal team motioned to have the undecided charges dismissed in regards to the alleged rape of 54-year-old hitchhiker and an unconscious teen. The judge denied the request.
On Monday, the jury–made up of eight men and four women–found Winslow guilty of an attack on a homeless woman in the Encinitas beach community of north San Diego. The 35-year-old was also found guilty of indecent exposure and lewd conduct involving two other women.
All five women reportedly testified during Winslow’s nine-day trial. The defense alleged the women concocted stories in hopes to gain some of Winslow $40 million fortune during his 10 seasons in the NFL. However, many of them said they didn’t know who he was or that he was famous during their encounter with him.
The tight end played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England, and the New York Jets.
Prosecutors allege that the Hall of Famer felt emboldened by his fame to abuse women. Dan Owens called Winslow “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
The homeless woman, who was 58 years old at the time, said Winslow befriended her and then attacked her next to his car in May 2018. The hitchhiker said he drove her to a shopping center and raped her inside his hummer in March 2018. As news of the attacks became more prominent, a woman came forward an alleged Wilson raped her when she was 17 and he was 19.
Winslow’s defense team said the women’s testimonies were inconsistent. However, prosecutors maintained the gist of their stories remained the same. Winslow’s DNA was found on one of the accuser’s pants and GPS locations placed him where the women say they were attacked.
Winslow now faces nine years in prison, if found guilty of all nine counts, he could go to jail for life.
