Victims Rejoice Following Daniel Holtzclaw Sentence

In a sharp contrast to December, Holtzclaw was quiet Thursday as the judge ordered him to serve all of those sentences, totaling 263 years, back-to-back. The judge agreed Thursday. A third victim, S.E., told the court that Holtzclaw “messed up so many women’s lives, including mine …”

Holtzclaw, who has been identified as Asian or Pacific Islander, was accused of committing sex crimes against 13 African-American women and was convicted of offenses involving eight of the women. As an officer, Holtzclaw would check the women for warrants and then offer them freedom in exchange for various sexual favors.

“I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I began to get very, very scared”, Ligons said. Holtzclaw was found not guilty on all charges stemming from Hill’s accusations. It wasn’t until June 2014 when a woman identified as J., with the encouragement of her daughter, reported being sexually assaulted by Holtzclaw to police. Green Bay Packers guard T.J. Lang, who was a teammate of Holtzclaw at EMU, told TMZ “He was of my best friends”. Investigators alleged that he had used his position and power to target women in a low-income neighborhood.

Holtzclaw continued to pursue her, even following her to her home and stalking her on social media, she said. Some had criminal backgrounds, and some were sex workers. “He was a police officer and I was a woman”.

Several of Holtzclaw’s victims have reportedly filed civil lawsuits against him and the city in state and federal court.

Some of the women testified they had some run-ins with the law previously, and were anxious about their records or being sent back to jail. Judge Timothy Henderson listens to testimony during the sentencing of Daniel Holtzclaw in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

She immediately reported him to the police.

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.

The Associated Press last year highlighted Holtzclaw’s case in after an investigation revealed about 1,000 law officers were decertified in a six-year period because of sexual misconduct on the job.

“I want this case to be about the fact that police officers, police departments and prosecutors, not just here locally but around this country, care about those allegations and that women should come forward and should report these incidents”, Prater said.