A former Oklahoma City police officer accused of raping more than a dozen women while on duty was found guilty of a slew of charges by a jury Thursday.
The jury returned the guilty verdicts against Daniel Holtzclaw shortly after 8 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET), at the end of a fourth day of deliberations.
Holtzclaw, 28, hung his head and began sobbing and rocking back and forth as the verdicts were read. The jury found him guilty of 18 counts of sexual battery, rape and other offenses.
Holtzclaw was charged with 36 counts of rape, forcible oral sodomy, burglary and other charges.
The sentences recommended by the jury along with each guilty verdict add up to more than 260 years, NBC affiliate KFOR reported.
Assistant District Attorney Gayland Gieger told the court that Holtzclaw preyed on vulnerable women — all African American, most with police records — he stopped while on patrol.
The case had racial overtones, and attracted the interest of the Black Lives Matter movement. Holtzclaw is white, and all of his victims are black. The jury was made up of eight men and four women, all of whom appeared to be white.
Thirteen women took the stand and told strikingly similar stories — Holtzclaw coerced them into having sex after threatening to arrest them on outstanding warrants or for possessing drug paraphernalia.
Most didn’t dare report what allegedly happened to them to police.
“I didn’t think anyone would believe me,” one woman testified. “I’m a black female.”
It wasn’t until a black woman in her 50s — identified in court papers as J.L. — came forward and told police what allegedly happened after Holtzclaw stopped her on June 18, 2014, that an investigation was launched.
Phil Helsel