By Victor Trammell – Last fall, disgraced NFL star Kellen Winslow Jr. reached a plea deal with prosecutors in San Diego County, California in which he assumed responsibility for a series of violent sex crimes committed from 2003 to 2019.
Winslow, 36, was first arrested and charged with first-degree rape and aggravated kidnapping in June 2018. However, the serious charges kept p – iling up as San Diego County prosecutors began discovering and investigating more and more cases where women had been sexually brutalized at the hand of Winslow.
The former Pro Bowl selection was scheduled to be sentenced last month after his November 2019 plea deal. But the COVID-19-related public health crisis gripping America has forced court systems to delay proceedings until further notice. USA TODAY Sports recently obtained letters written by Winslow’s loved ones, which are directed to the judge who will sentence him.
This is all part of a plan conducted by Winslow’s legal team to get him the lightest sentence possible. The convicted serial rapist faces 12 to 18 years in state prison. Judge Blaine Bowman is the California court official who will decide Winslow’s fate.
“Even after it was clear to the entire NFL that his career was over, he waited three years for a phone call from an NFL team that was never going to come. I imagine that his depression deepened as he sought that miracle surgery or device that would take away the pain in his knee and return him to the NFL,” wrote Winslow’s father, Kellen Winslow Sr.
“He is suffering and he needs medical help. He has never been a problem child or adult and has been a wonderful son all of his life. As a past NFL wife myself, I can honestly say that NFL injuries whether it be mentally or physically are severely crippling those that loved and played the game,” wrote Katrina Ramsey, Winslow’s mother.
The emotional language in the letters written by Winslow’s loved ones casts him as a victim. However, if family members and other loved ones knew he was struggling psychologically, physically, and emotionally, why did they fail to get him the help he needed years ago? Why did they wait until he was on his way to prison before they made any serious appeals for help? Somebody knew.
Why did all these women (some of which had nowhere to live) have to be terrified by Winslow’s sexual violence towards them before it was determined that this man needed serious mental help? Hopefully, a respectable number of loved ones connected to Winslow’s rape victims are writing Judge Bowman too.
Rapists make choices that far too many victims have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Stories of grief from these victims must be heard and prioritized before society considers any sympathy for sexual sadists.
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