That ’70s Show actor actor Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life for rapes
T
hat ‘70s Show actor Danny Masterson has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women he met through the Church of Scientology.
The actor and prominent Scientologist, 47, who starred in the retro TV comedy for eight seasons until 2006, was convicted in June in a second trial.
A jury deadlocked on a charge that he raped a third woman, his long-term girlfriend at the time.
Judge Charlaine Olemdo announced Masterson’s sentence in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday.
Masterson remained silent all through the listening to.
As the decide learn his sentence – the utmost penalty allowed – his spouse, Bijou Phillips was seen in courtroom breaking down in tears.
Masterson’s accusers stated the Church of Scientology discouraged them from contacting legislation enforcement.
The organisation denied that declare and stated Masterson’s faith mustn’t have been a difficulty within the case.
The ladies stated Masterson drugged and raped them in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003 at his home within the Hollywood Hills.
The crimes occured when Masterson was on the peak of his fame, as Steven Hyde on That ’70s Show — the nostalgic comedy that made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace.
The three ladies stated he used his prominence within the church — the place all three ladies have been additionally members on the time — to keep away from penalties for years.
The ladies testified that once they reported Masterson to church officers, they have been informed they weren’t raped, have been put via ethics applications themselves, and have been warned in opposition to going to legislation enforcement to report a member of such excessive standing.
The two ladies whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction stated that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then turned woozy or handed out earlier than he violently raped them. He knew each from social circles within the church.
“They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller informed jurors in his closing argument. “Scientology told them there’s no justice for them. You have the opportunity to show them there is justice.”
“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions — relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness — knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behaviour,” one of many ladies, whom Masterson knew as a fellow member of the church and was convicted of raping at his house in 2003, stated on the time of his conviction.
Allegations in opposition to Masterson affected his profession.
When he was first accused of sexually assaulting a number of ladies in 2017, he was fired from the Netflix sequence The Ranch.