Disgraced cop sentenced to 263 years in prison for series of rapes and sexual assaults
PUBLISHED : Friday, 22 January, 2016, 12:43pm
UPDATED : Friday, 22 January, 2016, 12:43pm
Reuters
Daniel Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer who was convicted of raping and sexually victimising eight women on his beat, arrives for his sentencing, on Thursday. Photo: AP
A former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping four women and sexually assaulting several others while he was on duty has been sentenced to 263 consecutive years in prison, the maximum allowable sentence.
In December, an Oklahoma City jury found Daniel Holtzclaw, 29, guilty on 18 of 36 charges of sexual assault, including rape. The sentence was given on Thursday by District Judge Timothy Henderson after victims told the court that the former officer had destroyed their lives.
Prosecutors said Holtzclaw preyed on women who had trouble with the law and forced them into sex, hoping their word would not hold up against his in court.
“I so desperately want my life back - the life I had before he took it away,” Jannie Ligons, one of the victims of Holtzclaw, told the court in an impact statement.
Holtzclaw, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, did not speak on his own behalf. His lawyers said after the sentence was handed down that they planned to appeal.
Another victim, Sherry Ellis, told the court she never thought a police officer would do what Holtzclaw did.
“He deserves what he gets. There will never be a day where I don’t think of how I was violated,” Ellis said.
Ahead of the sentencing, the judge denied a defence motion filed a day earlier seeking a new trial.
Thirteen women testified against the former officer at his trial last year, describing encounters in which Holtzclaw forced his victims to perform sexual acts on him.
Holtzclaw sexually abused multiple women between December 2013 and June 2014, targeting victims from a poorer, mostly African-American area of Oklahoma City, prosecutors said.
Holtzclaw, who did not testify at his trial, was fired over the accusations in January 2015 after approximately three years on the job.
He broke down in tears when he was found guilty, telling jurors “I didn’t do it,” as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
“He didn’t choose CEOs or soccer moms; he chose women he could count on not telling what he was doing,” prosecutor Lori McConnell said during closing arguments. “He counted on the fact no one would believe them and no one would care.”
Throughout his trial, women told the jury stories of searches or background checks during encounters with Holtzclaw. Among those who testified against him: a teenager who told the court that Holtzclaw drove her to her mother’s house, then inappropriately touched her after they arrived. She was 17 at the time.
The 263-year sentence will include credit for the time that Holtzclaw has already served.
“It is what it is,” said Holtzclaw’s attorney, Scott Adams. “It wasn’t a surprise.”
