CLEVELAND — The prosecutor in the case against Kellen Winslow Jr. had a strongly-worded opening statement as the trial of the former first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns got underway in Vista, California Monday morning.
Prosecutor Dan Owens asked jurors to judge Winslow Jr. “by who he is, not who his father is,” referring to Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr.
“Mr. Winslow has been given much, but it was not enough,” Owens said. “He victimized five women, five separate women who knew nothing of each other. This is not a question of whether or not he was the person involved in these crimes, but whether, what the crimes are.”
Winslow Jr. is facing life in prison if convicted of raping two women in Encinitas, California in 2018, as well as an unconscious teenage girl in 2003, as well as exposing himself to a woman, and later, groping the same patron of a Carlsbad gym early this year.
Winslow Jr. entered “not guilty” pleas to all of the charges.
Winslow Jr. had his bail revoked on March 5 and awaited trial while in jail after two more reports of sexual deviance surfaced.
According to TMZ, Winslow Jr. most recently was accused of touching himself in front of a 77-year old woman. The report states that Winslow Jr. did not meet the terms of his bail because while working out at a gym in the San Diego area in February, he began touching himself and asked the woman if she liked it.
One week later, Winslow Jr. was accused by the same woman of engaging in lewd conduct while she was in a hot tub. Also, she claimed Winslow Jr. touched her arm and foot as she tried to leave the area to report the incident.
That incident resulted in Winslow Jr. being charged with four counts, two for lewd conduct, one for battery of an elder and one for willful cruelty to an elder.
“Kellen Winslow took what he wanted,” Owens said. “He took what he wanted not from one, not from two, but from three women. He victimized five separate women.”
Winslow Jr. was out on bail despite being accused of raping three women, two of whom officials have said were drifters and were kidnapped by the former first-round pick out of the University of Miami (Florida). Bail was set at $2 million last July before it was revoked earlier this year.
A first-round pick of the Browns in the 2004 NFL Draft, Winslow Jr. played in 44 games over five years in Cleveland, where he registered 219 catches for 2,459 yards, an average of 11.23 yards per reception, with 32 20-yard gains and 11 touchdowns.
During his Pro Bowl season in 2007, Winslow caught 82 passes for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns
