OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorneys for the sexual assault victims of a former Oklahoma City police officer claim there is at least one additional victim that was not investigated by the police department.
In December, a jury convicted former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw of 18 counts, including rape and sexual battery.
At his trial, 13 alleged victims testified against Holtzclaw, claiming he took advantage of them while he was on duty.
He’s now serving a 263 year prison sentence.
On Monday, attorneys for several of Holtzclaw’s victims called a news conference to announce that new evidence had been discovered in the case.
Attorney Benjamin Crump said that another victim’s account was found, and she filed a complaint with the police department before the first victim ever came forward.
Crump claims that another woman, Demetria Campbell, was victimized by Holtzclaw on Nov. 5, 2013.
Following the assault, he says she immediately filed a complaint with Holtzclaw’s supervisors.
“They knew exactly who he was… and they did nothing,” Crump said.
Crump claims that the victims are shocked that if the original case was investigated thoroughly, “all these other rapes could have been avoided.”
“I feel very betrayed,” said Jannie Liggons.
Melvin Hall, another attorney for the victims, said that if police investigated the original complaint like they did with the other victims, “they would have determined that a criminal act had occurred there.”
Attorneys say the alleged victim said that Holtzclaw had assaulted her, pushed her against a wall and pressed his pelvis to her backside, adding that his penis was erect.
However, this additional victim’s case was not submitted to the district attorney’s office.
“Our point in bringing her case is that the city was on notice of Holtzclaw by virtue of her case. He was not taken off the street, he was not put on desk duty,” Hall said.
Police say they investigated Campbell’s complaint that Holtzclaw handled her too roughly.
“We did look into the use of force accusation. Had there been an allegation of sexual misconduct, we could have looked at it back then, but the fact remains there was not,” Capt. Paco Balderrama, with the Oklahoma City Police Department, said.
Authorities say they investigated the complaint and found that the amount of force used against Campbell was appropriate.
She has since filed a lawsuit against Holtzclaw and the City of Oklahoma City.
In all, seven victims have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Oklahoma City, its police chief and several police employees.
The lawsuit alleges that officials failed to properly test, train and monitor Daniel Holtzclaw and didn’t investigate allegations of police abuse.
