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Vista, CA – Former National Football League (NFL) player Kellen Winslow Jr. was arraigned on numerous charges, including kidnapping, rape, and sodomy, in a San Diego courtroom on Friday.
Winslow, who was once the NFL’s highest-paid tight end, pleaded not guilty to all charges, KGTV reported.
The judge determined the 34-year-old former professional football player presented a threat to society because he had allegedly threatened to kill two of his victims if they contacted police. He ordered Winslow held without bail on June 15.
Winslow is facing eight felony charges, and one misdemeanor, according to KGTV
He was charged with two counts of kidnapping with intent to commit rape, two counts of forcible rape, one count of forcible sodomy, one count of forcible oral copulation, two counts of residential burglary, and one count of indecent exposure, KGTV reported.
Prosecutors said Winslow was on the prowl for months before he was apprehended.
The charging documents alleged Winslow kidnapped and raped two women, a 54-year-old woman on March 17 and a 59-year-old woman on May 13, and that he burgled a 71-year-old woman on June 1 and an 86-year-old woman on June 7, KGTV reported.
He was also accused of indecent exposure on May 21.
Two of the victims were homeless, and prosecutors said Winslow lured them into his Hummer and raped them, KGTV reported.
Both “burglaries with intent to rape” were committed in the same senior citizen mobile home community, according to KGTV.
Winslow was initially arrested in that mobile home park on June 7.
On that occasion, a neighbor called the police to report a possible burglary, according to KGTV. That neighbor confronted Winslow and asked him if he needed anything.
“Nope, just looking for my dog,” Winslow responded, according to KGTV.
When the neighbor asked about the dog, Winslow said, “Well, it’s a red dog, Clifford.”
Winslow was arrested and booked into jail, but released the next day on $50,000 bail. Prosecutors said they kept him under surveillance after he was released following the first arrest, until San Diego sheriff’s deputies arrested him again on Thursday.
After the initial arrest, Winslow’s publicist said he was in the mobile home park looking for a home for his mother-in-law, and that Winslow’s wife was friends with the homeowner.
He said Winslow actually does own a red dog named Clifford, but was being sarcastic when he responded to the neighbor.
But Winslow’s publicist had no comment following the second arrest and announcement of multiple sex crimes charges, KGTV reported.
KGTV reported that criminal reports from 2013 existed that said Winslow was arrested in New Jersey for masturbating inside his Escalade, while staring at a woman in her 50’s in a parking lot. However, he was not charged with indecent exposure in that incident.
Winslow is the son of Kellen Winslow Sr., who played from 1979 to 1987 in the NFL, and who is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
His father and his wife, Janelle Winslow, issued a joint statement of support for him on Friday.
“On behalf of our son and my husband, we want to reiterate our love, support and affection for him during this difficult process. We will always be there for him and we know the true facts will come out,” the statement read.
Winslow played nine seasons in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots, and the New York Jets. He caught 469 passes in his career for 5,236 yards and 25 TDs.
In his rookie year, Winslow signed a six-year contract worth up to $40 million that included $16.5 million in signing and option bonuses, according to ESPN.