Ex police officer sentenced to 263 years in prison for rape and sexual assaults on women while on duty

                         Daniel Holtzclaw in court                              (C)AP

A judge on Thursday sentenced Daniel Holtzclaw, the former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping and sexually assaulting eight different women while on duty, to 263 years in prison – a resounding win for his victims, who had called for Holtzclaw to spend the maximum number of years behind bars. Judge Timothy Henderson read the sentence before a packed courtroom in the Oklahoma County courthouse. Dozens more people were crammed in the hallways and into an overflow room. Several of Holtzclaw’s victims spoke before the ruling, asking the judge to levy a long prison sentence.

Holtzclaw sobbing during conviction

The sentence comes just over a month after a sobbing Holtzclaw was convicted on 18 of 36 counts, including four counts of first-degree rape and four counts of forced oral sodomy. Prosecutors said Holtzclaw selected victims in one of Oklahoma City's poorest neighborhoods based on their criminal histories, assuming their drug or prostitution records would undermine any claims they might make against him. Then, he would subject them to assaults that escalated from groping to oral sodomy and rape, according to the testimony of 13 victims. Holtzclaw, whose father is a police lieutenant on another force, waived his right to testify. Because the victims are black, race has been regularly invoked in the case.