OKC settles with 9 women who made accusations against ex-police officer Daniel Holtzclaw

Oklahoma City is paying $18,500 each to nine women who accused former police officer Daniel Holtzclaw of sexual assaults.

Those settlements total $166,500.

Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting 12 Black women and a then-17-year-old Black girl between December 2013 and June 2014 while a police officer — on duty and off. Jurors in December 2015 convicted him of sexual offenses involving eight victims.

He was sentenced to 263 years in prison.

The city successfully fought federal lawsuits that blamed police practices for his actions. Nine of his accusers challenged a 2021 ruling in the city's favor to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

The settlements were reached after the appeals court ordered mediation. The Oklahoma City Council agreed to the payments Jan. 31, without admitting liability.

An Oklahoma City federal judge signed off on the settlements Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton had urged city attorneys to settle earlier after ruling in the city's favor. The city refused.

Among those getting a settlement is Jannie Ligons, a grandmother who was the first to come forward with accusations against the police officer.

"He picked the wrong lady to stop that night," she said at a news conference after his 2015 rape trial in Oklahoma County District Court.

Holtzclaw also was sued. His accusers dismissed the claims against him rather than proceed to trial only against him. Any verdict against him would have been uncollectable.

Holtzclaw, now 36, continues to claim he is innocent. He has vowed to use new evidence from the civil cases to resume his fight against his criminal convictions.

"I still hope and believe that justice will prevail," he said last September for a news release emailed to the media by his sister.

The Oklahoma City Council in 2019 agreed to a $25,000 settlement to resolve a lawsuit that accused Holtzclaw of excessive force.

Holzclaw denied any wrongdoing in the 2013 incident, where he handcuffed a woman while checking on a report of a stolen car.

The woman, who was not involved in the car theft, said he slammed her face into a brick wall. She said she got medical treatment at a hospital emergency room after he let her go.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC settles with accusers of ex-police officer now in prison for rape