Court Finds Ex-Oklahoma Cop Guilty of Serial Rape

Ex-Oklahoma City police officer, Daniel Holtzclaw, has been found guilty of serial rape.

On Thursday, the jury found Holtzclaw, 29, guilty of 18 counts, four of which were for first-degree rape, in relation to eight African-American victims, who testified against him. He was charged with 36 counts of abuse related to incidents involving 13 women that occurred between December 2013 and June 2014.

Holtzclaw's cases first started when an elder woman came forward and told the police that he had forced her to perform oral sex during a traffic stop. The woman, a 57-year-old grandmother, who the court addressed as J.L., recalled her fear that Holtzclaw would shoot her if she did not follow his orders.

The police then found 12 other women who said that Holtzclaw had assaulted them in similar situations. Holtzclaw's victims were women from a low-income neighborhood that he patrolled.

Holtzclaw had threatened to arrest his victims mainly during traffic stops if they did not do what he requested. He would then rape or force them to perform sexual acts on him in their homes or in the backseat of his police car. Many of the women he preyed on had a criminal and/or drug use history.

"He didn't choose CEOs or soccer moms; he chose women he could count on not telling what he was doing," prosecutor Lori McConnell said reported by Reuters (via Yahoo! News). "He counted on the fact no one would believe them and no one would care."

During the trial, the youngest victim to testify was a 17-year-old girl who said that Holtzclaw had pulled up next to her as she was walking home. He driven her home and then told her that he had to search her. The girl recalled him groping her during the search before he had proceeded to rape her on her enclosed front porch. The girl's DNA was later found on Holtzclaw's pants.

"I feel like justice has been served today," the girl's mother said reported by USA TODAY.

The jury recommended a prison sentence of 263 years.