Thursday, January 21, 2016
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A judge says a former police officer convicted of raping and sexually victimizing women while on his beat in a low-income Oklahoma City neighborhood should spend the rest of his life in prison.
Jurors last month convicted 29-year-old Daniel Holtzclaw on four first-degree rape counts and 14 other charges, and recommended he spend 263 years in prison. The judge today agreed and said Holtzclaw will serve those years consecutively.
Prosecutors said Holtzclaw, who is half-white and half-Japanese, targeted black women while on patrol.
Holtzclaw's lawyer said prostitutes and drug abusers misconstrued his efforts to help, and that many came forward only after police said an investigation showed that they might be victims.
Defense attorney Scott Adams says Holtzclaw will appeal.
The Associated Press last year highlighted Holtzclaw's case after an investigation revealed about 1,000 law officers were decertified in a six-year period because of sexual misconduct on the job.