Ex-Oklahoma officer to be sentenced for rape, sex crimes

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma City police officer is set to find out whether he will spend the rest of his life in prison for raping and sexually victimizing eight women on his beat.

During the monthlong trial, 13 women testified against him, and several said Holtzclaw stopped them while out on patrol, searched them for outstanding warrants or checked to see if they were carrying drug paraphernalia, then forced himself on them.

Holtzclaw's attorney, meanwhile, described the former college football star as a model officer whose attempts to help the drug addicts and prostitutes he came in contact with were distorted.

Defense lawyer Scott Adams also attacked the credibility of some of the women, who had arrest records and histories of drug abuse, noting that many didn't come forward until police had already identified them as possible victims after launching their investigation.

The Associated Press highlighted Holtzclaw's case in a yearlong examination of sexual misconduct by law officers, which found that about 1,000 officers in the U.S. lost their licenses for sex crimes or other sexual misconduct over a six-year period.