Danny Masterson, the star of “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced on Thursday for raping two women 20 years ago. His sentence ranged from 30 years to life.
After hearing statements from the women about the trauma and pain they experienced as a result of the disturbing memories in the years that followed, Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo of Los Angeles Superior Court handed down the sentence to the 47-year-old Masterson.
In a lawsuit, the actor, who has been detained since May, appeared in court. As he listened to the women’s words, Masterson did not notice any response from the women.
That 70s Show actor Danny Masterson
One woman, whom Masterson was found guilty of attacking in 2003, stated, “Right when you attacked me, you took from me.” The soul is taken away by assault.
“You are unfortunate, upset, and completely savage,” she declared. The world will be in an ideal situation with you in the slammer.
“Has not shown an ounce of disappointment for the exacerbation he caused,” expressed the other lady Masterson was faulted for attacking. “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with,” she told the judge. I’m so sorry and sorry to hear that. I wish I had reported him to the police sooner.
The prosecution retried Masterson on all three charges earlier this year after an initial jury declared a mistrial and failed to reach verdicts on three counts of rape in December.
Following seven days of thought, a jury of seven ladies and five men viewed Masterson to be liable of two relies on May 31. The two assaults took place in Masterson’s home in the Hollywood area in 2003, when he was at his most successful on the Fox network sitcom “That ’70s Show.”
They were unable to reach a conclusion regarding the third count, which stated that Masterson had also raped a long-term girlfriend. They had casted a ballot 8-4 for conviction.
After rejecting the defense’s earlier Thursday argument for a new trial, the judge imposed the actor’s sentence. The watchman mentioned a sentence of 15 years to life and attempted to have the sentences for the two convictions run concurrently. The indictment mentioned a sentence of 30 years to life for Masterson, who was qualified.
“It will be influenced by what you choose today,” said Masterson’s attorney Shawn Holley to the adjudicator prior to the condemnation. In addition, his daughter’s life, to whom he is devoted and given.”
“He has continued a praiseworthy life,” Holley stated, “he has been an uncommon father, spouse, sibling, child, colleague, and local area worker.”
According to the arraignment, Masterson concealed his membership in the Congregation of Scientology, where all three of the women were also individuals at the time, to avoid consequences for a considerable amount of time following the assaults.
The women were to blame for the delay in reporting Masterson to the police because of the church. They testified that when they reported a high-ranking Scientologist to Scientology officials, they were assured that they had not been raped and were told not to tell the police. Additionally, they received ethics education.
“Testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs” that were presented in the trial were “uniformly false,” the church stated in a statement following the verdict.
The statement read, “The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members, whether Scientologists or not, to report criminal conduct to law enforcement.”
Masterson did not give a testimony, and neither did his lawyers call any witnesses. The defense attempted to discredit the stories by highlighting changes and inconsistencies over time, which they claimed indicated coordination between the women. Furthermore, they contended that the activities were willful.
According to the women’s testimony that led to Masterson’s conviction, in 2003, Masterson allegedly gave the women drinks and claimed that they became woozy or passed out before he violently raped them.
In the second trial, Olmedo allowed prosecutors and accusers to directly state that Masterson drugged the women, while the women were only allowed to describe how they were in the first.
Masterson was not accused of medicating, and there was no evidence from toxicology to support the assertion. The issue might affect Masterson’s arranged allure from the safeguard.
The Related Press typically doesn’t name individuals who say they were manhandled physically.
Masterson showed up in “That ’70s Show” close by Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Beauty from 1998 to 2006.
In 2016, he showed up close by Kutcher again in the Netflix parody “The Farm,” yet the next year, he passed on the show because of an examination by the Los Angeles Police Division.
Masterson’s conviction sentence represents a significant achievement for Los Angeles investigators during the #MeToo era, alongside Weinstein’s conviction last year, despite the fact that that investigation began prior to a large number of women in Hollywood discussing Harvey Weinstein in October 2017.
