American actor, Danny Masterson could get as much as 30 years to life in prison at his sentencing on Thursday, September 7, for the rapes of two women two decades ago.
Found guilty
A Los Angeles jury found Masterson, 47, guilty of two counts of forcible rape in May during a retrial of a case involving three women.
The third count against Jane Doe No. 3 was declared a mistrial and has since been dismissed after prosecutors said they would not retry Masterson on the rape charge.
The probation and sentencing hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. PT Thursday.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo has allowed the three Jane Does in the case to give victim impact statements at the sentencing — the two he was convicted of raping, as well as the third whose count was dismissed.
Masterson pleaded not guilty to three counts of felony rape following accusations by three different women, including a former girlfriend.
He faces up to 30 years to life in prison
The alleged attacks took place between 2001 and 2003. He faces up to 30 years to life in prison.
Masterson was deemed a potential flight risk and was remanded into custody following the verdict.
The first trial ended in a mistrial in November 2022, with the jury deadlocked and unable to reach a verdict.
The three alleged victims were members of the Church of Scientology, as is Masterson.
All three women said they were initially hesitant to speak to law enforcement because they said church teachings discouraged reporting to the police.
The women eventually left the church.
One woman claimed the actor shoved a pillow into her face in 2003 while raping her.
Another woman, Jane Doe No. 3, who was dating Masterson at the time, claimed he raped her in 2001 while she was asleep.
She and Jane Doe No. 2 are also involved in a related civil case against Masterson and the Church of Scientology.
In his closing argument, defense attorney Philip Cohen told the jury the women may have ‘tweaked or maneuvered’ their stories to bolster their case, and that they may be motivated by ‘hatred, revenge or money,’ KABC reported.
Shortly after the jury was dismissed to begin deliberations on May 17, the defense asked for a mistrial — arguing that prosecutors spent too much of their closing arguments on the alleged drugging of the victims, according to KABC.
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Olmedo denied the request, citing her ruling that prosecutors could argue the women were drugged because it was ‘directly relevant to their ability to perceive the events of the charged incidents,’ KABC reported.
Masterson’s counterclaims..
Masterson, who was arrested in 2020, said each of the encounters was consensual.
‘That ’70s Show’ was still on the air at the time of all three alleged rapes.
Prosecutors alleged that Masterson used his prominence in the Church of Scientology, where all three women were also members at the time — to avoid consequences for decades after the attacks.
The women blamed the church for their hesitancy in going to the police about Masterson.
They testified that when they reported him to Scientology officials, they were told they were not raped, were put through ethics programs themselves, and were warned against going to law enforcement to report a member of such high standing.
‘They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,’ Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors at the trial.
‘Scientology told them there’s no justice for them.’
The church said in a statement after the verdict that the ‘testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs’ during the trial were ‘uniformly false.’
‘The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement,’ the statement said.
The Church of Scientology previously told ABC News that there’s ‘no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of Scientologists, or of anyone, to law enforcement. … Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land.’
