An Oklahoma City police officer faces 34 charges, including rape and sexual battery, related to the alleged abuse of 13 women -- and on Monday, eight of those women testified about their assaults in court, during a preliminary hearing that will decide if 27-year-old Daniel Holtzclaw goes to trial.
Two counts of sexual battery were added to Holtzclaw's charges Monday, which previously included rape, sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy, burglary, stalking, indecent exposure and procuring lewd exhibition following his August arrest.
In the preliminary hearing, prosecutors introduced DNA found inside of Holtzclaw's uniform pants matching a 17-year-old girl who alleges he raped her on the front porch of her mother's home, according to The Oklahoman.
Prosecutors have argued in court that Holtzclaw, over a period of time, methodically targeted certain women -- "black women in a high-crime area," according to BuzzFeed -- who would be unlikely to report their assault. "What am I going to do? Call the cops? He was a cop," the 17-year-old said.
"In one case, prosecutors allege that [Holtzclaw] sexually abused a woman at a hospital and took her to jail, then went so far as to befriend her on Facebook and go to her house seeking sex," according to the Enid News & Eagle.
Holtzclaw has pleaded not guilty to all charges and his family maintains that he is being unfairly railroaded. "PEOPLE DO BELIEVE IN DANIEL'S INNOCENCE and not into the media hype that everyone is believing into!!!!" his sister, Jenny, wrote in a statement.
Holtzclaw is under house arrest on a $609,000 bail, following a September bond violation. The preliminary hearing continues Tuesday.
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