Kellen Winslow II pleaded guilty to 2 felony counts of rape and waived his right to a retrial before opening statements were set to begin on Monday, Nov. 4.
The former NY Jets tight end was set to be retried on Monday after a jury was hopelessly deadlocked on multiple counts of felony rape in the first trial in June.
Winslow pleaded guilty to the rape of a 17-year-old girl when he was 19. Winslow hesitated to plead guilty several times in court. “I’m not pressuring you,” said the judge. “You don’t have to plead guilty and we can proceed with your trial.”
Winslow ultimately pleaded guilty to count 6 and count 9 in exchange for a sentence of 12-18 years in prison.
“Your honor, I pray to God that you give me 12 [years] and I can go home to my family as soon as possible, your honor,” said Winslow.
“You could get 18 years… do you understand that?” the judge responded.
Winslow will be held without bail pending sentencing in February 2020. The jury, who waited all day for the trial to begin, was called into the courtroom to be told the defendant pleaded guilty.
Winslow, 36, was previously convicted of raping a middle aged woman in Encinitas, California. He was also accused of 2 additional rapes and exposing himself to two other women.
The courtroom decorum was disrupted during a recess when Winslow’s dad, NFL Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr., 61, yelled at the prosecutor for looking at him.
“Do not look over here!” Winslow Sr. shouted in the court room. Winslow Sr. was chastised for yelling and he was not present in court when his son pleaded guilty.
Winslow was convicted in June of forcible rape and misdemeanor indecent exposure and lewd conduct. But the jurors deadlocked on other charges related to the alleged rape of a 54-year-old hitchhiker in Encinitas.
Jane Doe #5 accepted a ride from Winslow, who took her behind a shopping center and allegedly raped her. The woman initially identified Winslow’s attorney, who is also mixed race, as the man who raped her.
Winslow also allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl — Jane Doe 4 — in 2003 at a Scripps Ranch house party, according to ABC affiliate 10 News in San Diego.
Winslow, who is a married father of one, was acquitted of masturbating in front of Jane Doe 5 – a 77-year-old woman – at a Carlsbad, Calif. gym in February.
In his closing argument during the first trial, Deputy District Attorney Dan Owens told the jury that Winslow “took from these women what he wanted. Kellen Winslow took from these women again and again and again. This man took what he wanted from them and threw them away like trash because that’s what he thought of them.”
