SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. has been convicted of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman last year.
- Winslow was convicted of rape, still waiting on eight more counts
- Five women came forward with allegations
The jury is still deliberating on eight more counts.
In addition to the Bucs, Winslow also played for the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets. He has not played in the NFL since 2013.
Five women came forward with allegations against Winslow with one of the incidents dating back 16 years.
Women gave details of Winslow meetings
All five women testified during the nine-day trial. Winslow did not take the stand.
Defense attorneys pointed out inconsistencies in the accusers’ testimonies and argued the women invented the allegations to prey on the wealth of Winslow.
Prosecutors say the son of Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow felt empowered by his fame to abuse the most vulnerable.
Prosecutor Dan Owens told the jury of eight men and four women that Winslow is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
The homeless woman in Encinitas, who was 58 at the time, testified that he befriended her and attacked her next to his vehicle after inviting her for a coffee in May 2018.
A 54-year-old hitchhiker said he drove her to an Encinitas shopping center parking lot and raped her in his Hummer in March 2018.
A 57-year-old woman said he exposed himself to her while she tended to her garden in May of 2018. The jury found him guilty of that charge Monday.
After news of the attacks broke, a woman came forward and said Winslow had raped her when she was a 17-year-old high school student in 2003. He was 19 at the time and had come home from college for the summer. She said she passed out at a party in a San Diego suburb and woke up to find Winslow assaulting her.
A 77-year-old woman who went to the same gym as Winslow in the beach community of Carlsbad said he committed lewd acts in front of her, including touching himself, while Winslow was free on $2 million bail in February. The jury found him guilty on the charge of touching himself in front of the woman at the gym, but not guilty of committing a lewd act while in the facility’s hot tub in front of the same woman who said it happened on a different occasion.
After the jury sent a note saying it was deadlocked on the eight other charges, the judge sent them back to deliberate. Jurors went home less than an hour later and were ordered to resume deliberating Tuesday.
The panel on Friday sent a note to the judge indicating it was possibly struggling to find agreement.
“The jurors could benefit from an explanation as to what being under oath means,” the note said. “Additionally, how we should follow the law and not what we think the law means.”
The judge told jurors being under oath means telling the whole truth and that they should follow the law how it is written.
Defense attorney Marc Carlos questioned the credibility of the women’s claims, saying they had lied, misconstrued things or were unable to initially identify him correctly.