Billionaire sports star convicted of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman

Winslow, who played for the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots, was first arrested in 2018. [Courtesy]

Former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. has been convicted of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman last year north of San Diego.

A jury returned the verdict Monday in San Diego Superior Court in Vista but was continuing to deliberate on two more counts of rape involving a hitchhiker and an unconscious teenage girl.

The jury also found him guilty of indecent exposure and lewd conduct but found him not guilty of one count of a lewd act, which prosecutors had said happened in front of a 77-year-old woman in a hot tub in nearby Carlsbad.

Winslow, who played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets, faces up to life in prison if convicted of all counts.

All five women testified during the nine-day trial. Winslow did not take the stand.

Winslow, who formally played for the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots, was first arrested in 2018 after he was connected to two alleged break-ins in the town of Encictas.

During the trial prosecutor Dan Owens said: "Kellen Winslow took what he wanted; he took what he wanted not from one, not from two, but from three women.

"He victimised five women, five separate women who knew nothing of each other. This is not a question of whether or not he was the person involved in these crimes, but whether, what the crimes are."

He said Winslow used his fame to abuse the most vulnerable, which included middle-aged and elderly women.

Winslow is estimated to have earned more than $40m (Sh4 billion) during his career, where his honours included a Pro Bowl in 2007 and BCS national champion in 2001.

He also represented the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets in an American football career that spanned nine years.