Daniel Holtzclaw, the former Oklahoma City police officer who was recently found guilty (see above) of sexually assaulting multiple women while on duty, has now been sentenced to more than 260 years in prison. Holtzclaw was sentenced to a 263-year consecutive sentence on Thursday, the New York Daily News reports.
The disgraced officer's attorney filed for a new trial just one day earlier, arguing that crucial DNA evidence had been left out of the proceedings. That motion was promptly denied but ultimately delayed Thursday's hearing by several hours. "Judge handed [Holtzclaw] a sentence that was in line with what the jurors recommended," KOCO's Patricia Santos, present during the sentencing, reported. Holtzclaw currently remains in the county's custody, pending relocation.
The charges, which stem from the assault of eight different women, painted the portrait of an abusive police officer who intentionally targeted black women and sexually assaulted them while threatening arrest. One victim, who was just 17 years old at the time of her assault, says she was raped by Holtzclaw on the front porch of her mother's home. "It's been hard on my family," she told the court, according to the Associated Press. "It's been hard on me. Every time I see the police, I don't even know what to do. I don't ever go outside, and when I do I'm terrified."
In December, Holtzclaw was convicted on 18 of 36 total counts related to his history of abuse. That verdict included four counts of first-degree rape and forcible oral sodomy, second-degree rape, sexual battery, and procuring lewd exhibition.
