Ex-Okla. cop's rape conviction symbol of national problem

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A teenager's mother clapped her hands and screamed with joy, and a former police officer hung his head and sobbed, as a jury convicted him of raping her daughter and sexually assaulting seven other women.

The mother of Daniel Holtzclaw's youngest accuser said she hopes his guilty verdict will show everyone that sexual misconduct by police officers has to be taken seriously.

"It's a problem for the nation," she told The Associated Press.

Holtzclaw was convicted Thursday night of preying on the teenager and other women he met while working his beat in a minority, low-income neighborhood. He could spend the rest of his life in prison; the jury recommended 263 years, including 30-year sentences for each of four first-degree rape convictions.

The jury found Holtzclaw guilty of 18 counts connected to eight of the 13 women, and acquitted him of 18 others.

Sexual misconduct committed by law enforcement officers is a problem that has concerned police chiefs for years.

Holtzclaw's case was among those examined in a yearlong Associated Press investigation that revealed about 1,000 officers nationwide had lost their licenses for sex crimes or other sexual misconduct over a six-year period.