That 70s Show' Danny Masterson guilty of rape, faces 30 years sentence
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The shocking detail is that the victims are former members of the Church of Scientology who said the Church discouraged them from reporting the rapes.
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Danny Masterson appears at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn., June 7, 2017 (AP)
US actor Danny Masterson was found guilty by a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday of two counts of rape and was charged with raping three women in his home between 2001 and 2003 in Hollywood Hills. However, the jury found itself deadlocked on the third rape count.
Known for his role as Steven Hyde on the late 1990s sitcom “That ‘70s Show”, Masterson, 47, pleaded not guilty to the three counts of felony rape. He was charged in 2020 after police revealed they were investigating the crimes in 2017. Masterson is married and has one daughter with his wife Bijou Phillips.
Masterson now faces 30 years to life in prison and a sentencing hearing is due August 4.
As Masterson was a member of the controversial Church of Scientology, prosecutors claimed during the latest court hearing that he used his influence in the Church to avert being held responsible for his actions.
This comes after Hollywood's notorious mogul-turned-sexual-predator Harvey Weinstein was charged with 11 sexual assault charges for attacks against five actresses between 2004 to 2013.
Three of the victims gave their detailed testimonies, during which the first alleged she stopped by his house to pick up some keys when he handed her a drugged drink and then raped her.
The second victim, an ex-girlfriend of the actor, stated that he raped her twice and that on one occasion after he drugged her, she asked the next morning why she was in pain. He responded by admitting to having sex with her while she was unconscious, laughing about the matter.
"He started laughing at me," she said, adding: "I asked him if I was unconscious the whole time, and he said 'yeah.'"
The third victim stepped forward to say that she set "boundaries" and told Masterson she didn't want to have sex with him before visiting him at his Hollywood home, but the actor assaulted her in his jacuzzi anyways.
Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told the jury during closing arguments on May 16: “The defendant drugs his victims to gain control. He does this to take away his victims’ ability to consent,” adding: “You don’t want to have sex? You don’t have a choice. The defendant makes that choice for these victims. And he does it over and over and over again.”
The shocking detail is that the three victims are former members of the Church of Scientology, and the three stated that the Church discouraged them from reporting the rapes.
Misogyny and sexual abuse have been a prominent controversy since the #MeToo movement gained momentum in 2017, starting in Hollywood and moving to the fields of politics and sports.
This trajectory exposed the toxic and unjust environment that individuals in the US have to deal with all while having to fear risking their careers by submitting to derogatory, abusive, and demeaning ways by their coaches, directors, or bosses.
