A former police officer in Oklahoma City was given a life sentence imprisonment over his convicted charges of rape, sexual abuse and battery of poverty stricken victims on Thursday. The former police officer was convicted on the said charges last month.
According to USA Today, Daniel Holtzclaw, a 29-year old ex-officer faces a 263 years in prison after he was found guilty on sexual offences. His victims include black women on a poverty stricken neighborhood that happened between 2013 to 2014. Holtzclaw was also charged with 36 counts last month.
On December 10, when the six-week trial was over, Holtzclaw was found guilty of 18 counts. His youngest victim was a minor, 17 years of age testified that she was attacked on her mother's front porch. According to Michigan Chronicle, Holtzclaw defense attorney, Scott Adams requested another trial however, it was denied by the judge. Attorney Adams said that his client was denied a fair trial, he believed that the prosecution "made deliberate violations and misrepresentations in discovery."
Thirteen women took the stand and testified against Holtzclaw. Fox25 WFXT reported, several of his victims, all black women said the former police officer stopped them while on his patrol duty, searched them for illegal items such as drugs and eventually sexually attacked them.
His convictions also include four counts of first-degree rape, additional counts of forcible oral sodomy, sexual battery, procuring lewd exhibition and second-degree rape. Many of his victims filed civil lawsuits in the city in state and federal court.
Civil rights lawyer, Damario Solomon-Simmons, one of the lawyers representing the victims said, "Holtzclaw must receive the maximum sentence allowed by law to validate his victims' suffering, and to show the world, including others in positions of power, that abusing said power will have major consequences."
The case also made into the national news because of the race of the victims. Holtzclaw is half-white and half-Japanese.
