OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (AP) — A yearlong investigation by The Associated Press has found about 1,000 officers who lost their licenses in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assaults; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having on-duty intercourse.
The issue will be in the spotlight beginning Monday in Oklahoma City, where former Officer Daniel Holtzclaw is scheduled for trial, accused in the rapes, sexual battery or exploitation of 13 women, including J.L. The AP doesn't name alleged victims of sexual assault without consent, and J.L. declined to be interviewed. She immediately reported her accusations in June 2014, and detectives launched a wider investigation.
Police eventually assembled a six-month narrative of alleged sex crimes they said started December 20th, 2013.
The 28-year-old Holtzclaw, a former football star who is now fired from the Oklahoma City Police Department, has pleaded not guilty. His family has said "the truth of his innocence will be shown in court." His attorney, Scott Adams, would not respond to requests for comment but indicated in pretrial hearings that he will attack the credibility of the accusers, some of whom had struggled with drugs or previously worked as prostitutes.