Two Victims Speak Out After Holtzclaw Found Guilty On 18 Counts

Former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw has been found guilty Thursday night on 18 counts, including rape and sexual battery. Two of his 13 victims reacted to the verdict during a news conference Friday morning.

Daniel Holtzclaw spent the night of his 29th birthday at the Oklahoma County Jail. He was escorted shortly after the judge read the verdict. Judge Timothy Henderson read each of the 36 counts, a visibly shaken Daniel Holtzclaw bowed his head, sobbed and looked at both his family and the jury.

12/7/2015 Related Story: Jury Has Reached Verdict In Sex Crimes Case Against Daniel Holtzclaw

The former Oklahoma City police officer was found guilty on 18 of the felony counts, including first and second-degree rape.

Two victims, Jannie Ligons and Sharday Hill, along with their attorneys and family members, held a news conference at 11 a.m. Friday on the steps of the Oklahoma County District Courthouse.

Ligons was the original woman who filed the police report. Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represent five of Holtzclaw's victims, praised Liggins for her courage to speak out.

Ligons said during the news conference that Holtzclaw picked the wrong woman to stop on the night of the incident.

“I was a victim. I was traumatized. I went to therapy and had a stroke. I still live with this,” Ligons said.

The other victim, Hill, said during the news conference that she was taken to a hospital where she was sexually assaulted by Holtzclaw.

“Being in a room with a police officer, I did not expect to get violated the way I did. I couldn’t even believe it. I was speechless, scared, and I didn’t know what to do. But I was a survivor. I had to do what he was making me do,” Hill said.

Attorney Crump said they will be representing these women to get full justice. 

"We understand there were other women who have called before, whose calls went unanswered. So we need to find out how aggressive they (OKCPD) were. We need to find out how this could happen so many times, and nobody saw what was going on. How can he keep getting background checks, turning his GPS off? It’s mind-boggling that nobody could catch this," Crump said.  

Thursday night, the jury recommended a sentence totaling 263 years. Holtzclaw later faced the judge, turned to the jury and appeared to mouth the words "I didn't do it." Also heard in the courtroom were the sobs of both his family and the victims.

After Holtzclaw was led to the county jail, District Attorney David Prater spoke with News 9 about how the jury may have decided on a guilty verdict on half of the counts

“It doesn't necessarily mean they didn’t believe the victims. It means we didn’t meet our burden in those counts,” said Prater. I want that to be clear it doesn’t mean they didn’t believe the victims.”

We attempted to speak with Holtzclaw's defense attorney Scott Adams, but he did not provide a comment.

Holtzclaw will remain at the County Jail until formal sentencing on January 21.

YWCA USA released the following statement Friday,

"Justice has been served for many of Daniel Holtzclaw's victims, and YWCA USA thanks the jury for its verdict and the Oklahoma City Police Department for its public statement supporting that verdict. We hope this sends the right signal that sexual assault and other forms of violence against women will not be tolerated. Like many who rape and abuse, Holtzclaw sought out victims who were already marginalized because of their gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Victims of sexual assault deserve justice. Let there be more days like this where there are consequences for violence against women."