SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — Former NFL player Kellen Winslow II was already awaiting trial on charges of raping three women when he was taken back into custody this week. As of Tuesday, Winslow was being held without bail and facing misdemeanor charges in connection with alleged lewd conduct with a 77-year-old woman at a Carlsbad gym.
News 8’s Steve Price reports with details and reaction from a well-known local sports psychiatrist.
Winslow was back in court Tuesday and a judge has ruled that he must remain in jail following the latest allegations. He was previously free on $2-million bail.
Deputy District Attorney Dan Owens says Winslow performed a lewd act last month in front of a woman at the gym and as a result his bail was revoked sending him back to jail.
“Mr. Winslow poses a substantial danger of inflicting great bodily injury with another future sexual assault against a member of the public,” said Owens.
Dr. Michael Lardon is a San Diego-based psychiatrist who specializes in sports and News 8 asked him if he thinks Winslow's alleged actions could be the result of brain injuries sustained playing football
Lardon discussed some common symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (commonly known as CTE) which is a degenerative brain disease found in some athletes and others who have suffered repetitive brain trauma.
“What can happen is almost anything,” said Dr. Lardon. “So, we can see people disinhibited, depressed, people hallucinate. We see all sorts of erratic behavior.”
All of the allegations against Winslow surround sexually deviant actions which Lardon says is not consistent with CTE. But he says it's possible Winslow's alleged actions are a combination of things.
"You could have someone that has very deviant fantasies and then brain damage, [and with] some disinhibition, they no longer have the ability to restrain their behavior and then we see what we're seeing now,” said Lardon.
The judge did rule one issue in Winslow's favor Tuesday dropping a kidnapping charge he faced, and his attorneys said they will continue to fight for Winslow to be released again on bail adding that his latest charge involving the 77-year-woman is only a misdemeanor.
If Winslow is convicted on all charges, he faces more than 100 years to life in prison. His felony trial is scheduled to start next month.
RELATED COVERAGE