Fired officer’s convictions rare triumph for rape victims

The fact that this conviction came on Holtzclaw’s 29th birthday, the fact that this conviction came from an all-white mostly male jury (8 men and 4 women) and that fact that Holtzclaw was crying hysterically and nearly pulled a Suge Knight in the courtroom could have been enough to give some catharsis or solace. The women were stopped by Holtzclaw while he was presumably on patrol in a low-income neighborhood.

“There has to be a conversation about sexual assault, about rape, and about the specific care that black women and women of color need when these situations happen”, Franklin said.

The AP’s finding is undoubtedly an undercount of the problem of sexual abuse in law enforcement.

She immediately reported him to the police. He chose women he could count on not telling what he was doing… “They often use these positions to convince victims that no one will believe them due to their status or because the victims are members of more vulnerable populations”. He would run their names through the system to check for outstanding tickets and warrants.

Holtzclaw’s attorneys were also slammed for discrediting some of the victims due to their battles with addiction and prostitution. “I kept pleading, ‘Don’t make me do this, sir'”. He groped women’s breasts and genitalia, saying he was checking for drugs.

In the era of slavery in America, black women endured rape, forced breeding and physical assaults as a means for profit and brute intimidation, according to historians.

“I was traumatized”, she said.

Crump told reporters, “It just left a hollow pit in your stomach as you listened to them tell similar story after similar story”. Together they hurried to report the assault to police.

Moreover, though, the women did not think people in power would listen to them.

The allegations against Holtzclaw brought new attention to the problem of sexual misconduct committed by law enforcement officers, something police chiefs have studied for years. “Me being in the room with the police, not expecting to get violated the way I did, the way I was done, I just couldn’t even believe it. I was speechless”.

“I feel like justice has been served today”, the mother of the 17-year-old said to the AP. She said he ordered her into the backseat of his squad auto, where he exposed himself and told her to perform oral sex. Numerous victims in this case did not come forward until they were approached by officers investigating other complaints.

Soon J.L. was talking to Kim Davis, the department’s sex crimes detective on call. Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer, was facing dozens of charges alleging he sexually assaulted several…

During a monthlong trial, jurors heard from 13 women who said Holtzclaw sexually victimized them.

Eight women initially said Holtzclaw assaulted them in early fall previous year.

You may not know his name because his alleged victims are black.

“The only thing I could see was my life flash before my eyes and the gun in his holster on his right side”.

A yearlong Associated Press investigation into sexual misconduct by police officers in the USA found almost 1,000 police officers lost their jobs over a six-year period for rape and sexual assault. Many critics believed that the deck was stacked against Holtzclaw’s accusers, who were “black, poor, and powerless”, and therefore less likely to be believed, Goldie Taylor wrote in the Daily Beast.

Friday’s press conference was also marked by strong rebukes for the media from activists who sought to raise the profile of the case.

At least one victim was in court Thursday: the grandmother whose report to police launched the investigation against Holtzclaw.

Then came the court case.

That testimony encapsulated what made the tense case so controversial – especially after an all-white jury was selected.

The jurors recommended a total of 263 years of prison time for Holtzclaw’s crimes.

Aside from serving justice, this sends a major message.