The trial for ex-NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. is underway, and prosecutors are alleging that Winslow “took what he wanted,” including raping three women, one a homeless woman, and another a hitchhiker.
Prosecutors say that Winslow raped a 54-year-old hitchhiker he picked up as well as a 59-year old homeless woman, and that is in addition to a 17-year-old girl when he was in college, according to the New York Post.
“Mr. Winslow, the defendant in this case, has been given much but it was not enough,” prosecutor Dan Owens said to the courtroom. “He took what he wanted.”
The ex-Cleveland Browns player was arrested last year and charged with breaking into a 71-year-old woman’s house in Encinitas, California, but those charges were dropped. However, on the heels of that case, Winslow was arrested on the rape charges.
Winslow is accused of raping a hitchhiker on March 17 in a parking lot and threatening to kill her if she reported the attack.
The woman reported the rape four days later and provided her bloodied clothing as evidence. Police claim they found Winslow’s DNA in semen traces on the clothing.
In another charge, prosecutors say that Winslow made friends with a 59-year-old homeless woman and later raped her.
Finally, a third woman had come forward claiming to be a victim of the player saying he raped her when she and Winslow were in college in 2003.
In a separate case, Winslow was also charged with lewd conduct when, while out on bail from the other charges, he was accused of harassing a 77-year-old woman at a gym.
Winslow was out on a $2 million bail, but after the lewd conduct accusation, he was put back in jail and has been there since.
For his part, the 2004 number 6 overall NFL Draft Pick says he is innocent of all charges, and his attorney says that the ex-player has been the target of blackmailers. “When you’re in the spotlight, people want things from you,” attorney Brian Watkins said in court.
Watkins admits that Winslow had sexual relations with the accusers outside of his marriage, but that it was always consensual.
“It’s wrong. It’s immoral, but it is not illegal,” the attorney said.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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