“Itis an issue for the country”, the mom told the Associated Press.
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Most of the women who testified against the former cop said that they did not think going to the police with their experiences would have any effect.
The conviction of Holtzclaw Thursday night on charges of rape, sexual battery and other charges should send a strong message nationwide, said attorney Benjamin Crump, who is seeking civil damages from the city for some of the victims. Jurors acquitted him on 18 other counts. He nervously and hopelessly sobbed as his verdict was delivered.
Holtzclaw was a three-year veteran of the police force when he was arrested and eventually fired for this case, and ultimately in interviewing his police chief, the chief said this was the worst case he’s seen in four decades of law enforcement but he also said there’s a certain amount of uncertainty.
“Daniel Holtzclaw’s case is what inspired our investigation into police sexual misconduct”.
A jury in the United States has found a former Oklahoma City police officer guilty of rape and sexual battery.
That number, the AP concluded, was “unquestionably an undercount” of the real total of officers punished for sexual misconduct. And of those states that do, great variations exist in whether officers are prosecuted or reported to their state licensing boards.
Holtzclaw’s victims were predominantly from low-income neighborhoods, and many of them had criminal records.
The youngest was the 17-year-old girl. “He stuck his hands up under my shirt, under my bra and touched my breasts”, she testified, according to the Oklahoman.
The girl recalled Holtzclaw pulling up in his police auto as she walked home one night in June 2014.
“We are pleased with the 18 counts we received, but we are not pleased with the 18 counts we didn’t”. Prosecutor Angela Corey said at the time that the conviction and long sentence was because Alexander “was not fleeing from an abuser”. She alleged Holtzclaw raped her on her front porch on the pretense of searching her. The victim’s DNA was later discovered on Holtzclaw’s trousers.
The verdict has been handed down for former Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw and Friday some of the victims had their chance to speak out. “I kept begging him, ‘Please don’t make me do this'”. Six of those charges were for first-degree rape. She said he ordered her into the backseat of his squad auto, where he exposed himself and told her to perform oral sex. “It is a comfort to us all”. “There is hope for all of our sisters, mothers, wives, daughters who are victims of rape”.
Prosecutors plan to ask the judge to allow Holtzclaw to serve his potential 263 years in jail consecutively. He also pointed out that most did not come forward until police identified them as possible victims after launching their investigation. Two women took the stand wearing handcuffs and orange scrubs because they had recently been jailed on drug charges. But the jury still convicted Holtzclaw of forcible oral sodomy in her case. Daniel Holtzclaw cries as the verdicts are read in his trial in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Before the trial began, he was sacked. To expect that the police are there to help until they are not. Just 12 percent of 283,200 rape or sexual assaults reported between 2005 and 2010 resulted in an arrest or investigation, according to the federal National Crime Victimization Survey.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the Oklahoma City Police Department said it was satisfied with the jury’s decision, believing “justice was served”.
Holtzclaw, whose father is white and mother is Japanese, is identified as “Asian or Pacific Islander” by court records.
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“In the room with the police, not expecting to be violated the way I did, the way I was done, I was speechless, I was scared”, Hill said, growing emotional.
