*Disgraced former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted last year for the rape and sexual assault of seven black women and one underage black girl. In December, he was found guilty of 18 of the 36 charges he faced, including stalking, indecent exposure, and forcible oral sodomy and rape. Now Daniel is speaking out and denying the crimes against him. He’s also blasting everyone who worked on the case, from the prosecution and detectives to the victims.
“I have never sexually assaulted anyone,” Holtzclaw told ABC reporter Juju Chang in a phone interview that was aired on news program 20/20 Friday night, which included Holtzclaw, his family, jurors and victim Jannie Ligons.
“I want people to hear from me,” he continued. “I want them to hear from my voice… how do I respond to these questions so they could see the truth. I have nothing to hide and what I want the public to see is my personal side to the story.”
READ RELATED STORY: Ex-Cop Daniel Holtzclaw Gets Maximum 263 Years for Assaulting Black Women
He added: “I am not guilty of those crimes. But what I did is I protected and served, and there was a vendetta as far as the detectives, as far as the prosecution…”
Holtzclaw, 29, never testified in court, and this interview is the first time the public has heard directly from the convicted cop. He said the detectives who handled his case “handed [the victims] a lottery ticket,” by approaching women and asking if they had been sexually assaulted by a cop. “Now they’re going to be billionaires,” he said.
His delusions didn’t end there. Holtzclaw also believes he was scapegoated to appease race relations in the city. “If they didn’t convict me, there would be the next Ferguson in Oklahoma,” he said.
Daniel’s father Eric Holtzclaw, and his girlfriend, continue to understandably defend him by asking why would he choose “these people” to victimize.
“Why these people?” she said. “He could have found people on the northside (of town).”
Holtzclaw targeted black women in poor neighborhoods with criminal records, until Jannie Ligons, a 57-year-old grandmother reported him to the police.
“Let’s get the factual facts out there. She’s [Jannie Ligons] not innocent the way people think she is. She had a bust in the ‘80s … But we couldn’t present that to the jury … This is not a woman that’s, you know, a soccer mom or someone that’s credible in society.”
Daniel intends to appeal his conviction.
Watch Jannie Liggons:
Jannie Ligons who accused Daniel of sexual assault shares her story #abc2020 https://t.co/yBEGTX1Eom
— 20/20 (@ABC2020) May 21, 2016
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