Former Oklahoma Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw Sentenced to 263 Years in Prison

The newspaper reported that the 263-year sentence would include credit for the time that Holtzclaw has already served.

“A police officer has gone to prison for life for something done to black women”, one advocate said. She soon learned she was the last in a string of sexual assaults and rapes committed by Holtzclaw.

Disgraced Oklahoma City officer Daniel Holtzclaw, 29, preyed on women who had trouble with the law, hoping their word would not stand up against his.

In many cases, the women said they were assaulted after being stopped by Holtzclaw for seemingly no discernible reason. News of his sentence comes via the Associated Press, which noted that it followed the jury’s recommendation.

All of his accusers were black. Thirteen women testified against the former officer at his trial. His lawyers said after the sentence was handed down that they planned to appeal. The police officer from Oklahoma City could serve up to 263 years in jail. “It wasn’t a surprise”.

Holtzclaw was accused of committing sex crimes against 13 African American women and was convicted of offenses involving eight of the women. Prater condemned Holtzclaw for using his position of power for such despicable acts. “This is a rapist who masqueraded as a law enforcement officer”. “Historically, the American legal system has not protected Black women from sexual assault, thereby creating opportunities for law enforcement officials to sexually abuse them with the knowledge that they are unlikely to suffer any penalties for their actions”.

Holtzclaw’s attorney had described the former college football star as a model officer whose attempts to help the drug addicts and prostitutes he came in contact with were distorted.

On court records, Holtzclaw is listed as “Asian or Pacific Islander”.

As evidence mounted against him, Holtzclaw was sacked from the police department in early 2015.

“If there is additional DNA evidence despite the government’s representations to the contrary, and if there are additional people who came forward and falsely claimed that they were victims… then deliberate misrepresentations were made not only to the defense counsel but to the Court, calling into question the credibility of the government’s entire case”, the filing for a new trial said. The women claiming to have been taken advantage of by Holtzclaw varied in age from 18- to 50-years-old.

Another woman, T.M., said, “I didn’t think nobody was going to believe me anyway”.

“I thought he was going to kill me because I had seen his face and could tell on him and he was an officer and had to know he wasn’t supposed to do this”, she said. “So I just left it alone and just prayed that I never saw this man again, run into him again, you know”.

And T.B. said, “I didn’t think anything would be done. I felt like I was in survival mode, so I had to do what he was making me do”.